Saturday, January 14 2006 11:04 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Amidst a raging political controversy over the Rs 64 crore Bofors payoff case, the CBI has decided to move Swiss authorities after getting clues that Rs 21 crore stashed in two accounts in a London Bank of Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi had come from Switzerland.

The CBI was drafting a Letters Rogatory to this effect which would sent to the Union Law Ministry for approval before the Swiss authorities would be approached formally to provide the details of the fund transfer from Lugano in Switzerland, highly-placed CBI sources told sources here last night.

The move from CBI comes in the wake of Union Law Minister H R Bhardawaj giving clean chit to the Italian businessman.

The CBI had earlier been informed that the money in the two bank accounts, 5A5151516L and 5A5151516M, with BSIAG Bank, London having three million Euros and one million dollars respectively, had come from Bahamas Island.

The agency had secured a Letters Rogatory in 2004 for Bahamas which was executed in 2005. During the probe in Bahamas, the CBI sleuths found that the money had not been transferred from there.

The sources said that during further investigation, the CBI found that the money had come from the Switzerland city of Lugano and now details would be sought from them.