Verma may have forged CBI letter too

The Central Bureau of Investigation is likely to lodge a fresh case against arms dealer Abhishek Verma for allegedly fabricating a letter in the name of a superintendent of police (SP) and addressed to agency's director and Interpol's assistant director.

The Central Bureau of Investigation is likely to lodge a fresh case against arms dealer Abhishek Verma for allegedly fabricating a letter in the name of a superintendent of police (SP) and addressed to agency's director and Interpol's assistant director.

“We are examining a letter, suspected to have been forged by Verma, which seeks to show that it was authored by a CBI SP-level officer who is the investigating officer of probes against him. We suspect the letter —submitted to us by a former business associate of Verma — was fabricated for unlawful purposes,” said a CBI source. The source added, “We will soon file a case to probe this fraud.”

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The three-page letter dated April 20, 2009 bears the name and signature of the SP-level officer “Anti Corruption (1) (New Delhi)” as his unit.

The letter's subject read — “Investigation Status Report dated April 15, 2009, received from Interpol Headquarters, France, of accused Shri Abhishek Verma pertaining to remittances received and sent by accused from a foreign bank LGT Bank in Liechtenstein.”

In June, the CBI lodged a case against Verma and his wife for allegedly taking a bribe worth US $ 5.3 lakh from an accused Swiss arms manufacturing firm to influence public servants to get it off government blacklist.

The forged letter sought to inform that a Letters Rogatory — formal request — sent by the CBI to Swiss authorities to gather details on Verma's remittances deposited in the LGT bank had been “returned unexecuted,” said the source. “The forged letter has gaping holes.”

Meanwhile, Verma's counsel told HT, “These are just allegations. In any case, the CBI should bunch together all these allegations and make them a part of one FIR instead of seeking to lodge separate, multiple FIRs. This is just a ploy to keep my client in jail.”