The Union Home Ministry has cleared issue of letters rogatory to a U.S. court to take the statement of a former top executive of Louis Berger who reportedly said the company had bribed Goa politicians to win a major water and sewerage project.
The Goa government can now make a formal request to a New Jersey court to obtain the statement of James McClung, former senior vice-president of the company.
A senior Home Ministry official told PTI that the Goa government had approached the Ministry for approval. The Goa Police has served summons on Mr. McClung at the Louis Berger offices in Gurgaon, Hyderabad and Mumbai asking him to be present at its Crime Branch office.
However, Mr. McClung is in the U.S and hence the move to issue the letters rogatory.
Multi-billion project
Last month, Mr. McClung reportedly said before the New Jersey court that the company bribed Goan politicians and officials in 2010 to seal a multi-billion-dollar management project when he oversaw its operations in Vietnam and India.
Louis Berger International, a New Jersey-based construction management company, has been charged with paying a bribe of around $1 million for projects in Goa and Guwahati.
The company had admitted to violating the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Law.
So far, the Goa Police have arrested former Public Works Minister Churchill Alemao, former JICA project director Anand Wachasundar, former Louis Berger vice-president Satyakam Mohanty and an alleged hawala operator, Raychand Soni.
While Mohanty and Soni were released on bail, a special court granted anticipatory bail to former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat.
