Kesi ya Saileth Vithlani wa kashfa ya Rada

[Lambardi]

Hapo ndio tutaona maigizo ya hosea na feleshi....na uchaguzi huoooo.....tuone....

 

[mrugaruga]

Kwa taarifa Sailesh Vithlani yuko mikononi mwa Polisi wa UK tayari kuletwa Tanzania next week . Je Chenge/Idrisa/Mkapa etc watakuwa na hali gani!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

 

[Indume Yene]

Zitachezwa ngonjera tu hakuna lolote. Ooh Basil Mramba, Daniel Yona na wengine wafikishwa mahakamani.........Kama upelelezi umekamilika kwa nini kesi hazimalizwi na majaji ndo wanazidi kuteuliwa na kuapishwa??????????
Tuko hapa, watacheza ngonjera ili watanzania wasahau......tulishazoea U-TP wa SISIEMU.

 

[Mkora]

Mhh ni habari nzito na inahusu watu wazito.

Tatizo hapo ni kama kutakuwa na mafanikio katika "extradition process". Hatujui bwana Sailesh Vithlani ana uwezo gani kwa kuzingatia kwamba yeye ni raia wa Uingereza na pia ana makazi ya kudumu nchini UK.

Je kuna mwanasheria yeyote hapa ambae anafahamu mambo haya ya extradition treaties?, maana yapo complex na yanaweza kusukuma miaka.

Hata hivyo nina matumaini kwamba Tanzania ni mwanachama wa Commonwealth na kutokana na hayo Extradition Act ya mwaka 1989 ukarasa wa 33 itafuatwa.

Mkuu heshima mbele
Mawakili wapo kina Mkono
Ila gharama yake itakuwa $40M hivyo it wont be worthy to bring him
Wed rather let him free

 

[Halisi]

Baada ya Thisday kuwahiwa na wenzao wa Sunday Guardian, wameamua kucheza nayo

Vithlani extradition any time from now: ’Last piece of jigsaw puzzle now in place’




THISDAY REPORTER
Dar es Salaam

FUGITIVE businessman Shailesh Pragji Vithlani, who is reportedly now in the custody of British authorities, could be extradited to Tanzania as early as this week to face clear-cut corruption charges linked to the 28 million pounds sterling (approx. 58bn/-) military radar transaction scandal.

’’The last piece of the jigsaw puzzle has finally slipped into place,’’ declared an official close to the radar deal investigation when commenting about the 44-year-old Vithlani’s long-awaited arrest.

It is understood that he was arrested in the UK after spending several years in hiding in Switzerland - moving from one hotel to another.

’’Tanzanian authorities have known for quite some time now that Vithlani was in Switzerland...but they never filed any extradition request,’’ said the official.

’’Since investigators in Tanzania and the UK have been cooperating and in close touch all along, it was easy for British authorities to arrest the wanted fugitive when he visited the UK,’’ the official added.

The Mwanza-born Vithlani is thought to have been travelling with both Tanzanian and British passports, although Tanzanian laws prohibit such kind of dual citizenship.

He has already been brought before the Kisutu resident’s magistrate’s court in Dar es Salaam to answer to charges of perjury and lying to an investigating officer regarding his ’middleman’ role in the 2002 purchase of the dubious radar system by the third phase government of ex-president Benjamin Mkapa.

However, his arrest by Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) means that the home-based Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) can finally file straightforward corruption charges against him and several other prominent suspects.

Last week, well-placed sources revealed to THISDAY that a major breakthrough had been made in the radar deal investigation, and the SFO was expected to deliver a ’’sensitive package’’ to the PCCB in Dar es Salaam within a few days.

Our sources now say the SFO is set to present Vithlani along with other investigation findings to PCCB this week.

It could not be immediately established if SFO detectives will escort Vithlani directly to Tanzania or the PCCB will send its own officers to London to bring the fugitive businessman in.

Initial reports suggested that Vithlani would be arriving in Dar es Salaam yesterday morning under police escort aboard a British Airways flight BA 046.

However, he was not among passengers who disembarked from the BA plane that landed at the Julius Nyerere International Airport at 6.50 am.

Interestingly, among the passengers on the BA flight was the proprietor of the Dar es Salaam-based Shivacom Group, Tanil Somaiya, who has also been officially named by the SFO as one of the key suspects in the radar deal investigation.

Somaiya is a close friend and former business partner of Vithlani. According to SFO findings, both of them were directly linked with Merlin International Ltd and the offshore Envers Trading Corporation company, which received illegal payments from the UK-based radar-selling firm BAE Systems to facilitate the transaction.

BAE paid a whopping $12m (approx. 15bn/-) in illegal kickbacks used to bribe top Government officials in the Mkapa administration to approve the dubious deal.

Both Vithlani and Somaiya were in 2006 questioned under oath by SFO detectives in Dar es Salaam regarding their roles in the radar deal.

Vithlani later skipped the country to avoid prosecution, while Somaiya has since claimed he is an innocent man in the whole affair.

Along with these two, other prominent named suspects in the radar investigation include former attorney general Andrew Chenge and ex-Bank of Tanzania governor Dr Idris Rashidi.

Following the arrest of Vithlani, the PCCB is expected to file a fresh request to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for consent to allow the long-delayed prosecution of the radar case to go ahead.

The DPP, Eliezer Feleshi, has previously withheld his consent on grounds that the case file was still lacking sufficient evidence for a credible indictment of the suspects.

ThisDay

 

[Zak Malang]

Zitachezwa ngonjera tu hakuna lolote. Ooh Basil Mramba, Daniel Yona na wengine wafikishwa mahakamani.........Kama upelelezi umekamilika kwa nini kesi hazimalizwi na majaji ndo wanazidi kuteuliwa na kuapishwa??????????
Tuko hapa, watacheza ngonjera ili watanzania wasahau......tulishazoea U-TP wa SISIEMU.

Hata mimi nina wasiwasi zitachezwa ngonjera kwa sababu mkulu wa zamani yumo, pamoja na Chenge, Dr Rashid na Tanil Somaiya. Huyu, bila shaka kwa kutumia hela za hongo za radar aliwapa CCM Sh 400 milioni mwaka jana kama mlungula ili serikali ya chama hicho isimbughudhi.

Kama kweli ataletwa basi tushuhudie maumivu makubwa kwa JK ambaye naye huenda alihusika akiwa kama Waziri wa Nje wakati wa Mkapa.

 

[Zak Malang]

Hapo ndio tutaona maigizo ya hosea na feleshi....na uchaguzi huoooo.....tuone....

Hakika ni maigizo. Huyu Vithlani aliwahi kukamatwa, akamtaja Somaiya kama mhusika, akashitakiwa na baadae kuachiwa na akatokomea majuu. Bila shaka alitoa hongo kwa watu wa PCCP na DPP.

Atahonga tena ili asiletwe, hiyo ni 100%. Viongozi wa serikali ya CCM hawana mbinu dhidi ya hela -- kwao ni ibada.

Lakini nasikia mara hii JK amekuwa cornered na wafadhili, hana pa kutokea. Hawafungui pochi hadi kieleweke katika masuala ya ufisadi -- hawataki ngonjera. Bila ya kuona watu wa radar, Kagoda na wengine kizimbani hakuna fedha. Wamempa kavu, loud and clear.

EEE Mola wangu. Furaha kwangu itakuwaje nikisikia babu wa vijisenti kaswekwa Keko kula dona. Hiyo party nitakayoandaa. wana-JF (wale tu wanaopinga ufisadi humu ndani) nitawaomba mob No zenu tujumuike pamoja. I mean it, I really do!

 

[Zak Malang]

Hakika ni maigizo. Huyu Vithlani aliwahi kukamatwa, akamtaja Somaiya kama mhusika, akashitakiwa na baadae kuachiwa na akatokomea majuu. Bila shaka alitoa hongo kwa watu wa PCCP na DPP.

Atahonga tena ili asiletwe, hiyo ni 100%. Viongozi wa serikali ya CCM hawana mbinu dhidi ya hela -- kwao ni ibada.

Lakini nasikia mara hii JK amekuwa cornered na wafadhili, hana pa kutokea. Hawafungui pochi hadi kieleweke katika masuala ya ufisadi -- hawataki ngonjera. Bila ya kuona watu wa radar, Kagoda na wengine kizimbani hakuna fedha. Wamempa kavu, loud and clear.

EEE Mola wangu. Furaha kwangu itakuwaje nikisikia babu wa vijisenti kaswekwa Keko kula dona. Hiyo party nitakayoandaa. wana-JF (wale tu wanaopinga ufisadi humu ndani) nitawaomba mob No zenu tujumuike pamoja. I mean it, I really do!

Umenena my brother, kuhusu Vijisenti na hiyo party unayotarajia kuthrow iwapo Vijisenti atarundikwa rumande. Usimsahau GT, yuko upande wetu -- mara nyingine huwa anajifanya kutetea mafisadi kwa ajili ya kuchangamsha debate -- au siyo GT?

Waingereza watatuona sisi, kwa maana ya JK na serikali yake ya CCM, watu wa ajabu wasipowakamata akina Vijisenti na wenzake kujibu mashitaka ya kuopokea milungula.

 

[Zak Malang]

Huwa najiuliza bila ya kuwa na magazeti ya IPP sijui ingekuwaje. Masuala haya, hususan ya radar yanapandishwa sana kwenye minds za wasomaji na magazeti yake -- hasa Kulikoni na This Day.

Ni kweli, magazeti mengine kama Mwananchi na Majira nayo huandika sana masuala ya ufisadi, lakini mawili niliyotaja ya IPP yanafuatilia kwa karibu sana bila ya kupoteza thread ya unfolding events.

Na mmesha notice kwamba magazeti ya RA hayaandiki kabisa suala la radar? Unajua sababu yake? radar inamgusa Mkapa moja kwa moja na kwa kuwa alikuwa mkuu wa kaya wakati wa mchoto wa Kagoda, (na Afritainer)basi RA anamuona Mkapa ni kama Mungu, asiguswe.

Hata masuala ya Kiwira Coal Mine, magazeti ya New habari yanaandika kwa namna ya kumuonyesha Mkapa hahusiki.

 

[Semilong]

Wameshindwa kumfunga chenge na rashid sasa wanamtaka vithlani wa nini..
Huu lazima utakuwa ni mchongo ili vithalini arudi tz kuendelea na shughuli zake, atakuja bongo na kesi itakuwa inapigwa danadana na jamaa atakuwa nje as usual...
Hata mwanzo alivyoondoka walikuwa wanajua

 

[MtazamoWangu]

i hope the Utamu story doesnt repeat here...tushafanywa wajinga sie ati...wamemkamata..atarejeshwa...tutamchukulia hatua....k**%#@@&*()..o

 

[mmaroroi]

Haya sasa Mzee wa vijisenti jiandae kutumia vijisenti vyako kujitetea.

 

[Kachero]

Ndugu wana JF kama kuna mtu mwenye kumbu kumbu atukumbushe ni nani aliyewahi kuhusika na ubadhirifu wa fedha nyingi hapa Tanzania ambaye alifunguliwa mashtaka akakutwa na hatia na kufungwa.Kama yupo basi uwezekano ni kwamba hata hawa kina Sailesh Vithlani,Patel and others watawajibishwa.Lakini kama hakuna kumbu kumbu hiyo basi mchezo utakuwa ule ule kesi kupigwa dana dana kama zitafuguliwa muda upite wadanganyika wakisahau kesi inafutwa.

Huu ndio utamaduni wetu wadanganyika,tutapiga kelele wee lakini hakuna kitu kitafanyika.

 

[BAK]

How Vithlani landed all those govt contracts

-Total value of deals attributable to the quintessential ’middleman’: $250m
​

THISDAY REPORTER
Dar es Salaam ​

SHAILESH Pragji Vithlani, the man behind a string of highly-dubious Government contracts, took advantage of extremely bureaucratic and secretive procedures for procuring defence hardware in Tanzania to land deals worth around $250m (335bn/-) over the past decade, it has been revealed.

Vithlani, operating in relative anonymity from Dar es Salaam, became infamously exposed as the agent for a good number of big Government procurement contracts when the 2002 military radar corruption scandal first came to light.

Government officials privately admit that there are few defence imports, particularly during the era of ex-president Benjamin Mkapa’s administration (1995-2005), in which Vithlani was not involved as the quintessential ’middleman’ whose main role was to ’’sweeten’’ the deals for key Government functionaries.

He was a regular visitor in the corridors of the nation’s civilian and military bureaucracy, as he successfully lobbied for the approval of various major procurements engineered by himself.

Officials familiar with the scenario have pinpointed Vithlani as being directly responsible for the passage of at least five major Government and military procurement deals whose total value was in excess of $250m in recent years.

Most of these deals were channelled through little-known companies like Vithcorp Food Packers and Merlin International Limited, which he co-owned with his former business partner Tanil Somaiya (currently recognized as proprietor of the Shivacom Group in Dar es Salaam).

Amongst the deals inked between the Government and foreign suppliers through Vithlani were the apparently overpriced military radar equipment from Britain’s BAE Systems ($40m), heavy-duty military vehicles from Italy’s IVECO ($120m), Agusta Bell military helicopters also from Italy ($50m), and the $41m GulfStream presidential jet.

All of these deals, plus others said to have also involved Vithlani and his business partners, were characterised by questionable quality of delivered goods, allegations of blatant corruption and the over-inflation of inherent costs.

Well-placed sources familiar with Vithlani’s mode of operation allege that he was able to land the lucrative Government contracts by ’’oiling’’ the innumerable links in the arduous tender selection process even before price negotiations actually begin.

’’He is extremely well-connected within Government, military, and civilian circles. He knows when a major contract is coming up right from the Government’s own initial planning stages,’’ said one of our sources familiar with Vithlani.

The infamous radar agent is also thought to still be in close contact with high-ranking Government officials including ministers and permanent secretaries - both past and present.

’’He (Vithlani) has been able to use some present and retired permanent secretaries and other senior Government officials to get inside information on major contracts even before they become public,’’ said another well-placed source.

It is stated that long before and even after the 2004 Public Procurement Act was introduced, Vithlani and his business partners were able to use loopholes in defence procurement contracts because of their secret nature to defraud the Government.

Says one well-placed Government official: ’’There is very little, if any, transparency in defence contracts because they are supposed to be matters of national military secrets. This has provided perfect cover for corrupt practices.’’

’’As such, Vithani and his allies were like magnets for unscrupulous politicians and officials whenever the Government wanted to make any multi-million-dollar procurement for the military,’’ the official adds.

Some procurement experts now say the Government needs to urgently introduce firm guidelines on integrity to ensure such corruptive practices are rooted out of defence contracts in future, and in the process effect a total ban on agents like Vithlani.

Latest reports from the UK say Vithlani, said to be currently in the custody of British authorities, could be extradited to Tanzania as early as this week to face corruption charges linked to the military radar transaction scandal.

Officials close to the radar deal investigation conducted by the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) in Dar es Salaam have described the reported arrest of the 44-year- old ’middleman’ as the ’’last piece of the jigsaw puzzle.’’

 

[Teamo]

Lol!sasa huyu alikuwa 'middle-man'',tungewaarrest na wale waliokuwa wanampa deal INGEKUWA POA

 

[BAK]

Lol!sasa huyu alikuwa 'middle-man'',tungewaarrest na wale waliokuwa wanampa deal INGEKUWA POA

Mkuu Geoff, ndani ya Serikali na CCM watakuwa wamechukizwa sana kukamatwa kwa huyu bwana na kurudishwa nchini maana atakayoyasema yanaweza kuweka uchaguzi wa 2010 wazi kabisa maana ni lazima yatawagusa kwa karibu wakuu mbali mbali wa juu sana katika serikali ya sasa na hata iliyopita.

Lakini kutokana na Serikali hii kuwa ya kifisadi na ushahidi wa hili upo wa kutosha, watampa kibano cha hali ya juu huyu fisadi ili asimtaje yeyote yule katika Serikali ya sasa au iliyopita na hatimaye kuhurumiwa katika hukumu yake kama atahukumiwa. Tunaweza kabisa kuambiwa hakukuwa na ushahidi wa kutosha wa kumtia hatiani na yeye kurudi zake UK kula kuku zake kwa mrija alizozipata kupitia migongo ya Watanzania walipa kodi.

 

[BAK]

2009-07-21 11:00:00
​

Team sent to UK to bring back fraud suspect Vithlan

By Ramadhan Semtawa
THE CITIZEN​

The Government has sent a high-powered team to the United Kingdom to pursue the extradition of fugitive businessman Sailesh Vithlan to stand trial for serious fraud cases running into billions of shillings.

This follows reports that Mr Vithlan, who has been on the run in Europe for several years, has finally been arrested in the UK.

Sources said that following the news of his arrest, a team of high-ranking intelligence officers and their counterparts from the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) and the office of the Director for Public Prosecution (DPP) had been dispatched to Britain.

However, contacted for comment, the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Mr Robert Manumba, said he was not aware of any team sent to the UK. But he said he had been informed that Mr Vithlan was summoned by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) of the UK last Friday, interrogated and allowed to go home.

Mr Vithlan is wanted in Tanzania for his alleged involvement in the corruption-ridden sale to the Government of a 28 million pounds sterling (Sh61 billion at current exchange rate) radar system.

From the deal, in which he reportedly acted as the middleman, Mr Vithlan is believed to have pocketed 12 million pounds sterling (Sh26 billion), after inflating the cost of the system.

Mr Vithlani's arrest is bad news for a number of public servants and retired government officials, especially from the third phase government, who played a part in the controversial deal.

Our source said the process to bring back the businessman had begun, but would not say how long it would take.

There are legal procedures to be followed. Therefore, no one can, at this point, say for sure when this suspect will be brought back here, he said.

One of the casualties of the investigation into the radar scandal is Mr Andrew Chenge, who was forced to resign as the minister for Infrastructure after his name featured in the deal. When the sale was executed, Mr Chenge was the Attorney General.

Britain's SFO announced it was investigating Mr Chenge over the deal after finding $ 1 million (Sh1.2 billion) in his offshore account in Jersey. The politician admitted holding the money in his account, but denied it was linked to the radal sale.

The SFO investigators said they had been following a trail of the money and had reason to believe that Mr Chenge might have received part of the kickback paid by the UK military dealer, BAe System.

The SFO, which has been investigating BAe Systems for alleged corrupt deals in a number of countries, also reportedly regarded Mr Chenge as a potential witness and not a suspect.

Last year, the British sleuths came to Tanzania as part of their investigations into Mr Chenge's alleged involvement in the deal. Reports then indicated that the PCCB and government officials were aware of the investigation of a Cabinet minister.

Mr Chenge, it is alleged, received 5 million pounds sterling, which was deposited in his UK account. The former minister has insisted that the money in his account was his and that it had nothing to do with Mr Vithlan's alleged deal. The investigators also alleged that some of the funds were paid to a former Bank of Tanzania Governor.

Yesterday, Commissioner Manumba confirmed that they would work together with their UK counterparts to facilitate Mr Vithlan's extradition.

But our sources confirmed that the first group of intelligence officers was sent to UK last week immediately after the news of Mr Vithlan's arrest was received.

More officers would be sent over to assist in the extradition process, the source said.

There are people already in the UK, as we speak, making a follow-up to facilitate Mr Vithlan's extradition, he told The Citizen.

Mr Vithlan is one of several people who had been charged at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate's Court in Dar es Salaam in connection with the inflated cost of the radar system, which cost the country some $40 million.

He slipped out of the country about three years ago after being released on bail and since then, reports said he was hiding in Switzerland.

After he absconded, the PCCB sought the assistance of the International Police (Interpol) to trace his whereabouts.

 

[Utatu]

Huyu jamaa wakimleta Bongo si watam-Balali haraka haraka?

 

[FairPlayer]

Kuna mtu anatafutwa ... sio huyu Vithlani..

 

[Yombayomba]

FP,
Yaani wameanza kuwatafuta baada ya jamaa kukamatwa? Yaani hata waandishi wetu mpaka sasa wameshindwa kunasa jamaa walikuwa wanakatiwa kiasi gani? Mimi nafikiri kama kweli waingereza wanataka kutusaidia kupambana na rusha au ufisadi huyu jamaa airudishe ashitakiwe huko huko. Hapo tutasikia ya kutisha jinsi watu walivyotajirika kwa kupitia huyu jama, maana kama uchunguzi ulikuwepo mbona jaa wote waliokuwa wanashughurikia hizi tenda hawajakamatwa kuhojiwa?