Tuesday, January 17 2006 17:35 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of Britain has informed the CBI that the accounts of Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, having nearly Rs 21 crore, have been defrozen.

According to CBI sources, a communication was received from the CPS to this effect informing them about the decision of the British High Court of de-freezing the accounts.

The communication from the CPS follows a request by the CBI yesterday to the British prosecution service seeking details about the status of the two bank accounts and also conveying to them the order of the Supreme Court asking the agency to communicate to the UK authorities for maintaining a status quo on the two accounts.

The British authorities had frozen the two accounts, 5A5151516L and 5A5151516M, with BSIAG Bank London, having three million Euros and one million dollars respectively, in July 2003 and the CBI had claimed that the money could be part of kickback allegedly received by Quattrocchi in the Rs 64 crore Bofors payoff case.

However, the CBI communicated to the CPS in December last year that the agency had so far not been able to link the money with the Bofors kickbacks, a move which eventually led to de-freezing of the accounts besides creating a political uproar in the country.