Tom Kington
ROME — Italian defense group Leonardo-Finmeccanica has put a brave face on news that it will be blacklisted in India, calling its business in the country “very marginal” and claiming it has no Indian orders included in its budget forecast.
Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar announced that the group will be blacklisted in India in the wake of allegations it offered bribes to win a €560 million Indian Air Force helicopter contract in 2010.
Former Finmeccanica CEO Giuseppe Orsi was given a four-and-a-half year sentence last month by an Italian appeal court for his role in the alleged corruption.
Orsi was previously cleared of corruption in a first trial, only to see that verdict reversed on appeal. Under Italy’s lengthy legal system, he will have a chance to challenge the appeal conviction at the country’s supreme court and will not enter a jail before then.
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