The controversy over Louis Berger International bribery scandal took a new turn on Monday with Goa Congress President and former Goa Chief Minister Luizinho Faleiro on Monday stating there should be an overall inquiry into the consultancy jobs being given to Louis Berger International, without being selective.
He was responding to questions from media over Goa Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) demand for an inquiry into the bribery charges pertaining to the water and sewage consultancy project given by erstwhile Congress government to the company.
BJP had earlier stated that it will ask its party government in Goa to black-list companies that faced bribery charges from any government contracts here onwards. Addressing a press conference at the BJP office in the city, Goa BJP president Vinay Tendulkar on Monday endorsed Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar’s announcement to hand over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI).
Simultaneously, he said in reply to a question, that party will ask the Chief Minister to review all the other (consultancy) contracts given to the company by past Congress government as well as the present government.
The controversy began following information coming out on Saturday that two top officials of Louis Berger, an international consultancy firm allegedly offered a bribe of $976,630 to an Indian minister and government officials in 2010 to secure the five-year Goa water supply and sewerage project. It was further stated that the amount was part of bribes paid to several other governments across Asia.
