The Times Of India, 7 Mar 2014Two British citizens, presumably a husband and wife team of Indian origin, are believed to be the promoters of the Singapore company which is now in the centre of a CBI investigation against Rolls-Royce in India.
The defence ministry had called in the CBI last week to investigate allegations that Rolls-Royce, a global leader in aircraft engines and gas turbines, may have paid middlemen to pocket defence contracts in India. The suspicion rose from Rolls-Royce's own admission last December in a letter to defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) that they had hired a consultant Ashok Patni and his Singapore firm Aashmore Private Ltd as commercial advisors in India.
Official documents show both Ashok Patni and Aarti Patni are the only shareholders in Aashmore, and hold 100,000 shares each in the company. A third director, Ganti Chandra Shekhar, is a Singpore citizen, while a third Patni family member, Ruchica Patni, is also a director. The company has two more directors—a German citizen and a local Singaporean.
Significantly, Aashmore Private Limited was incorporated in 1992, and has banking relations with Indian Bank as well as HSBC. Full story
