From: Seema Sapra [mailto:seema.sapra@gmail.com]
Sent: 15 June 2011 09:10
To: ‘pmosb@pmo.nic.in‘
Cc: ‘tka.nair@pmo.nic.in‘; ‘jmg.vc@nic.in‘; ‘r.sri_kumar@nic.in‘; ‘mr@rb.railnet.gov.in‘; ‘dch@nic.in‘; ‘g.haldea@nic.in‘; ‘crb@rb.railnet.gov.in‘; ‘mm@rb.railnet.gov.in‘; ‘jeffrey.immelt@ge.com‘; ‘john.flannery@ge.com‘; ‘Denniston, Brackett (GE, Corporate)’
Subject: FW: Additional information on Concerns about GE and possible FCPA violations
Dear Sir,
I would like to provide additional information about corrupt activities by GE Transportation in India. Please see attached.
Sincerely,
Seema Sapra
From: Seema Sapra [mailto:seema.sapra@googlemail.com]
Sent: 14 June 2011 18:16
To: ffetf@usdoj.gov;chairmanoffice@sec.gov; help@sec.gov; fcpa.fraud@usdoj.gov; askdoj@usdoj.gov
Cc: jeffrey.immelt@ge.com;john.flannery@ge.com; ‘Denniston, Brackett (GE, Corporate)’; ‘Dimitrief, Alexander (GE, Corporate)’; ‘Eglash, Jeffrey C (GE, Corporate)’;fwarin@gibsondunn.com
Subject: Additional information on Concerns about GE and possible FCPA violations
Dear Madam/ Sir,
Please find attached internet search results for Aartech Consultants, the independent third party contractor that GE Transportation India was using to liaise with the Indian Railways. Aartech Consultants shows up in search results as a recruitment agency.
I emailed about Aartech Consultants on 10 June 2011. (Before I sent my email, I googled “Aartech Consultants”and all the search results described it as a recruitment firm.) When I googled Aartech Consultants again on 13 June, the “recruitment” links did not show up. However, they still show up if you do not enter the full name. Instead there were 3-4 results that now describe Aartech as a business consultancy. Screen shots of these internet search results are attached.
The representative from Aartech Consultants who visited the GE office was Mr. Inderjeet Singh. He does not seem to hold any special qualifications that might have qualified him to provide any consulting services to GE. Plus he seems to be the sole representative and employee.
Thank you,
Seema Sapra
From: Seema Sapra [mailto:seema.sapra@googlemail.com]
Sent: 10 June 2011 13:08
To: ffetf@usdoj.gov; chairmanoffice@sec.gov;help@sec.gov; fcpa.fraud@usdoj.gov; askdoj@usdoj.gov
Cc: jeffrey.immelt@ge.com;john.flannery@ge.com; ‘Denniston, Brackett (GE, Corporate)’
Subject: Concerns about GE and possible FCPA violations
Dear Madam/ Sir,
Some further evidence about GE corruption in India.
Thank you,
Seema Sapra
From: Seema Sapra [mailto:seema.sapra@googlemail.com]
Sent: 10 June 2011 12:41
To: ‘Denniston, Brackett (GE, Corporate)’; ‘Dimitrief, Alexander (GE, Corporate)’
Cc: ‘Eglash, Jeffrey C (GE, Corporate)’;jeffrey.immelt@ge.com; john.flannery@ge.com
Subject: Concerns about Aartech Consultants and FCPA
Mr. Denniston/ Mr. Dimitrief,
I want to place on record my concerns about a third party contractor that GE Transportation India was using, an entity called Aartech Consultants. I shared this concern with Mr. Eglash when I spoke with him on 29 November 2010. I asked Mr. Eglash – what did this consultant do for GE? Unsurprisingly, Mr. Dimitrief’s letter of 3 February 2011 does not mention Aartech Consultants.
I first learnt about Aartech Consultants when in June 2010, I received an email asking me to review the documentation for Aartech’s ITP (Independent Third Party) contract that was up for renewal. I reviewed it and found there were reputational red flags that had been identified. Plus Aartech’s application was old and the answers to certain questions were unclear or potentially wrong. I spoke to Himali Arora, the CFO about this. She then pointed out that Aartech had a networth of approx. Rs. 30,000 which was also odd. I discussed the matter with Himali Arora and Ashwani Bhargava, who was handling compliance and was based in Bangalore. I then declined to approve the renewal unless these matters were reviewed and addressed.
The Aartech Consultants representative was one Sikh gentleman who visited the AIFACS office. I was never introduced to him and never spoke with him. On different occasions, I saw him sitting with Prat Kumar, Ash Nainar and Himali Arora. Plus he seemed to know most other GE Transportation employees at AIFACS well.
There is a very distinct possibility that Aartech Consultants was being used to make illegal payments to Indian Railway officials.
I was told by Anand Chidambaram in August that Aartech Consultants had good contacts within the Indian Railways and helped GE move files within the Indian Railways. I was also told that Aartech got a commission of 5% on every deal.
I fail to understand why GE would need an external contractor to help move files in the Indian Railways. GE Transportation India had sufficient human resources to undertake all legitimate interactions with the Indian Railways in GE’s business dealings and tender applications. What services did Aartech Consultants provide?
Even though Aartech Consultants’ contract renewal with GE did not go through in June 2010, the gentleman in question still visited AIFACS. I was told by Ashish Malhotra in August 2010 that despite the non-renewal of Aartech’s contract, GE documentation still showed that Aartech was being paid 5% commission for the turbocharger tender that GE had won. GE was having internal compliance problems with the terms and conditions of this deal and I remember hearing Prat ask Alpna Khera, Himali Arora, Ashish Malhotra and Anand Chidambaram to enlist Aartech Consultants’ support in getting the Indian Railways to relax certain terms, for example, getting the Indian Railways to agree to a liquidated damages provision.
Did you investigate whether any illegal payments were routed through Aartech Consultants by GE? Was there a violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act? What services did Aartech provide? What payments did GE make to Aartech Consultants? Were these justifiable?
Sincerely,
Seema Sapra
