PTI
Buenos Aires, Aug 15: Bofors scam accused Ottavio Quattrocchi on Wednesday walked free out of Argentina after a six-month legal battle following India's failure to appeal against a court's decision not to extradite him.
The 69-year-old businessman left this country for his home in Milan in his native Italy. His passport was returned by Argentinian authorities last week.
Speaking from the airport, Quattrocchi told PTI that he was happy to be on his way home and was looking forward to spending time with his family.
Information on the case has been closely guarded since the failure of the CBI's extradition attempt in Eldorado on June 8. Neither the CBI nor its Argentinian prosecutors Miguel Almeyra and Lilian Delgado got orders for appealing in the Supreme Court against the lower court's order not granting the Indian plea for Quattrocchi's extradition, sources said.
Indian Ambassador Pramanesh Rath said through a spokesperson that he would not like to comment on the issue.
Quattrocchi was detained at Iguazu airport in Argentina's Misiones province on February six on the basis of a Red Corner Notice issued by Interpol at the behest of the CBI. His wife, who was with him in Argentina, had left for Italy three months ago.
The businessman, who had earlier successfully fought a similar extradition battle against Malaysian authorities, maintained that he has been “a victim of an obsessive persecution” by Indian investigative authorities.
Quattrocchi said, “The CBI has gone out of its way, breaking every rule of honest conduct to go after me in what has clearly been a political persecution.
“This is demonstrated by the fact that I have won every single case in a court of law in connection with the Bofors case, and this continued persecution makes you think that at the end, they are only interested in kicking up a media frenzy for ulterior motives.”
Bofors scam accused Ottavio Quattrocchi on Wednesday walked free out of Argentina after a six-month legal battle following India's failure to appeal against a court's decision not to extradite him.
The 69-year-old businessman left this country for his home in Milan in his native Italy. His passport was returned by Argentinian authorities last week.
Speaking from the airport, Quattrocchi told PTI that he was happy to be on his way home and was looking forward to spending time with his family.
Information on the case has been closely guarded since the failure of the CBI's extradition attempt in Eldorado on June 8. Neither the CBI nor its Argentinian prosecutors Miguel Almeyra and Lilian Delgado got orders for appealing in the Supreme Court against the lower court's order not granting the Indian plea for Quattrocchi's extradition, sources said.
Indian Ambassador Pramanesh Rath said through a spokesperson that he would not like to comment on the issue.
Quattrocchi was detained at Iguazu airport in Argentina's Misiones province on February six on the basis of a Red Corner Notice issued by Interpol at the behest of the CBI. His wife, who was with him in Argentina, had left for Italy three months ago.
The businessman, who had earlier successfully fought a similar extradition battle against Malaysian authorities, maintained that he has been “a victim of an obsessive persecution” by Indian investigative authorities.
Quattrocchi said, “The CBI has gone out of its way, breaking every rule of honest conduct to go after me in what has clearly been a political persecution.
“This is demonstrated by the fact that I have won every single case in a court of law in connection with the Bofors case, and this continued persecution makes you think that at the end, they are only interested in kicking up a media frenzy for ulterior motives.”