This Article is From Apr 30, 2016

Briefly Jailed, Agusta Middleman Guido Haschke Now Leading A Life Of Luxury

Guido Haschke's family home was traced with the aid of information that appeared in Italian court documents.

Lugano: It's in Lugano, a sleepy Swiss canton with its tranquil lake and gentle slopes of surrounding hills where Guido Haschke, the elusive middleman of the AgustaWestland helicopter deal, has a home.

Documents recovered from Mr Haschke and his tapped phone conversations literally form the backbone of the Italian investigation on the 560 million Euro AgustaWestland chopper deal.

False invoices issued by Mr Hashcke's front company in Tunisia led to jail sentences for CEOs of both AgustaWestland and its parent company Finmeccanica. But Mr Haschke himself seems to be living freely.

He did get arrested and extradited to Italy in 2013 for questioning and was behind bars for about six months. Indian investigators were also given access to him for questions in Italy but Mr Hashcke doesn't seem to be a man who wants to tell the whole story. He refused to identify "AP" who prosecutors suspect was Congress President Sonia Gandhi's political aide Ahmed Patel.

NDTV traced Mr Haschke's family home with the aid of information that appeared in Italian court documents and tips from his former neighbours in Lugano, Switzerland. The family's household help confirmed that Mr Haschke's wife was at home but vanished inside to not return. Deborah Haschke took our calls at first but started evading us later, refusing to give any statements. His lawyer said Guido Haschke didn't want to speak to the media.

Few know what Mr Haschke looks like. He could or probably still be holding the key to many unanswered questions that could help India's own investigation.

The middleman had accepted guilt and had admitted to Italian prosecutors that there had been corruption in the deal but his plea bargain could mean that he's more or less off the radar now, unless Indian investigators go after him again.
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