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Executives in India bribery probe granted bail

03 December 2010 18:34 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. All eight executives arrested in an Indian bribes-for-loans investigation were granted bail on Friday, as a lawyer for the government said investigators would seek to rearrest three of them on other related charges, APA reports quoting â€œReutersâ€.
The special court which granted the bail had ordered all eight executives into judicial custody until December 16 earlier in the day. It will hear a request on Saturday by the government to rearrest the three executives who worked for Money Matters Financial Services.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had arrested the executives from banks and financial institutions last month, including three from Money Matters Financial Services, the firm accused by the CBI of mediating and facilitating corporate loans and other facilities by bribing bank officials.
Executives from Life Insurance Corp of India, LIC Housing Finance, Bank of India, Central Bank of India and Punjab National Bank were also arrested for allegedly accepting bribes in exchange for large loans to companies.
"A strong message needs to be sent to the public at large so that these kind of crimes should not be committed again," CBI lawyer Eijaz Khan said while opposing the bail applications in court on Friday.
The bribes-for-loans case is the latest in a wave of scandals to hit India this year, coming on the heels of a telecom scam that forced the country’s telecom minister to resign and has paralyzed its parliament for nearly a month.
The Commonwealth Games, hosted by New Delhi in October, were also said to be riddled with corruption.
The CBI has said it is investigating 21 sizeable companies for links to the bribes-for-loans scandal that has hit lending and infrastructure shares and rocked the country’s image as an investment destination.
A CBI source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters last week the probe would be widened to other public sector banks.