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Abhishek Verma (born 23 February 1968 in
New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...
, India) is a
billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busin ...
arms dealer The arms industry, also known as the arms trade, is a global industry which manufactures and sells weapons and military technology. It consists of a commercial industry involved in the research and development, engineering, production, and servi ...
globally known as the 'Lord of War' and was the main suspect in the Scorpene Submarines deal scandal but was exonerated by Indian Courts in 2015.


Personal life

Verma's father,
Shrikant Verma Shrikant Verma (18 September 1931 – 25 May 1986) was an Indian poet and a Member of Parliament from Madhya Pradesh as an INC candidate from 1976 to 1982 and 1982 to 1986. Verma died of cancer in 1986 in New York. Verma was married to Veena ...
, was a leading journalist before
Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...
brought him into the
Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...
party (INC) and made him a member of the 1976 Indian Parliament. From an early age, he was exposed to the media in his public life due to the assistance he provided his father. His mother,
Veena Verma ''Veena Verma'' ( pa, ਵੀਨਾ ਵਰਮਾ; born 2 September 1960) is a UK-based Punjabi language, Punjabi short-story writer and poet from Punjab, India. Early life Verma was born to a Khatri family, and married to Sunyara family in Bu ...
, served for fourteen years as a Member of Parliament, and was Vice-President of the INC, responsible for the Mahila Congress. In 2001, Verma was engaged to marry
Evelina Papantoniou Evelina Papantoniou ( el, Εβελίνα Παπαντωνίου; born 7 June 1979) is a Greek actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder. Miss Universe 2001 Papantoniou won Miss Star Hellas in 2001 gaining the right to represent Greece at the ...
, a former Miss Greece and runner-up in the Miss Universe competition. He was also dating Playboy center-fold Simone Cronstrand prior to marrying Anca Neacsu former Miss Romania.


Career

Verma was Chairman of Atlas Interactive India Private Limited and signed an agreement with the Indian Government to run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited to provide the technology for 'netTV' (television through an internet connection) by 2004. In 2011 Verma took over the reins of Olialia World a multinational FMCG brand as the Chief Evangelist of the group. In 2017 Verma was awarded the contract to construct & own
Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...
International airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...
with an investment of US$500 million, which would be known as Olialia International Airport for 50 years. In May 2019 a controversy erupted in Maldives when photos of Billionaire Verma were published with President
Mohammed Nasheed Mohamed Nasheed GCSK (; born 17 May 1967) is a Maldivian politician and activist currently serving as the 19th speaker of the People's Majlis since May 2019. A founding member of the Maldivian Democratic Party, he served as President of the ...
who is the Chairman of MDP Party in Maldives. Verma threatened to sue the columnist Bushry associated with the newspaper One Online causing uproar in Maldives. Verma is the main witness in
1984 anti-Sikh riots The 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots, also known as the 1984 Sikh Massacre, was a series of organised pogroms against Sikhs in India following the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Government estimates project that about 2,800 Sikhs ...
against Congress leader
Jagdish Tytler Jagdish Tytler (born Jagdish Kapoor; 17 August 1944) is an Indian politician and former Member of Parliament. He has held several government positions, the last being as Minister of State for Overseas Indian Affairs, a post from which he resigne ...
. The courts in December 2015 directed the
Central Bureau of Investigation The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and governmen ...
(CBI) to record Verma's testimony as witness. Due to the high threat perception, Verma was granted round the clock 'Z' category
Delhi Police The Delhi Police (DP) is the law enforcement agency for the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). Delhi Police comes under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India. In 2015, sanctioned strength of Delhi ...
protection and paramilitary forces on the directions of
Delhi High Court The High Court of Delhi (IAST: ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966'', with four judges, Chief Justice K. S. Hegde, Justice I. D. Dua, Justice H. R. Khanna and Justice S. ...
. Verma's proximity to
Varun Gandhi Varun Gandhi (born 13 March 1980) is an Indian author, politician, and a third-term member of Parliament for Lok Sabha from the Pilibhit constituency. He is also member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and was inducted into Rajnath Singh's team ...
, scion of the Nehru–Gandhi family, was made public when explicit photos of Gandhi and Verma with European escorts were released to the news media in 2016 by social activist politician Prashant Bhushan. Gandhi and Verma denied the allegations and issued statements that the photos released by Bhushan were morphed. Bhushan's allegations of Gandhi being blackmailed by Verma were also rubbished by Gandhi. Verma was nominated to contest
Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...
parliamentary elections from Congress Party in 1996, which he turned down due to personal reasons.


Allegations of corruption and imprisonment

In 2006, Verma was accused by the opposition
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
(BJP) of receiving kickbacks amounting to around US$200 million, through a US$4.5 billion Indian military deal, as a consequence of the Indian government purchasing six Scorpène-class submarines from
Thales Thales of Miletus ( ; grc-gre, Θαλῆς; ) was a Greek mathematician, astronomer, statesman, and pre-Socratic philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. He was one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Many, most notably Aristotle, regarded him ...
. The BJP raised this in Parliament, pointing out his proximity to the
Congress party The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...
, and alleged he had gained the agency to negotiate the contract with Thales as a result of bribing certain Congress politicians. Verma and Thales immediately denied all the allegations, and launched a
lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...
against ''
The Outlook Magazine ''The Outlook Magazine'' is a Chinese creative lifestyle magazine. ''The Outlook'' has been published in Shanghai continuously since October 2002 by Modern Media Group. The editor-in-chief is Jiaojiao Chen and the art director is Peng Yangjun; ...
'', which had been the first to break the story. He also sued the former BJP Deputy Prime Minister of India, L. K. Advani, for criminal defamation; Advani had campaigned against Verma, demanding the Government charge the latter with corruption. In 2015 the
Delhi High Court The High Court of Delhi (IAST: ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966'', with four judges, Chief Justice K. S. Hegde, Justice I. D. Dua, Justice H. R. Khanna and Justice S. ...
exonerated Verma when the CBI published their report into the allegations: they stated that the monies received by him was not a result of the submarine sale. On 7 June 2012, CBI raided Verma's 10 premises and establishments in India after registration of cases of corruption and money laundering. In 2013, Verma was named a suspect in the
2013 Indian helicopter bribery scandal Also referred to as the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal, the Indian helicopter bribery scandal by Congress led UPA Government refers to a multimillion-dollar corruption case in India, wherein money was paid to middlemen and Indian officials ...
by the Indian Government for massive bribes exceeding Euros 50 million that were paid to Indian politicians including
Sonia Gandhi Sonia Gandhi ('' née'' Maino; born 9 December 1946) is an Indian politician. She is the longest serving president of the Indian National Congress, a social democratic political party, which has governed India for most of its post-independ ...
as alleged by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. Verma is suspected to have been the middleman in the chopper deal and the nexus was exposed by TimesNow TV with their global investigation however he was acquitted by the Indian Courts in April 2017. Due to various other arms deal-related cases that Verma and his wife are alleged to have been involved in, the government attempted to freeze their secret bank accounts in
Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarchy ...
, which are said to hold over US$500 million; however the Liechtenstein authorities rejected the Indian government's request to open the accounts in 2015. When
Enforcement Directorate The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) is a law enforcement agency and economic intelligence agency responsible for enforcing economic laws and fighting economic crime in India. It is part of the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Gover ...
raids were carried out at Verma's residences, among the goods seized were 36 paintings, valued at over US$5 million and designer watches worth US$1 million. In June 2012, Verma was arrested and charged with
corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
and
money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...
; the trial commenced in December 2015. In April 2017, a CBI
special court An extraordinary court, or special court, is a type of court that is established outside of ordinary judiciary, composed of irregularly selected judges or applies irregular procedure for judgment. Since extraordinary court can be abused to infrin ...
exonerated Exoneration occurs when the conviction for a crime is reversed, either through demonstration of innocence, a flaw in the conviction, or otherwise. Attempts to exonerate convicts are particularly controversial in death penalty cases, especially w ...
Verma and his wife from all the allegations and charges and gave them a clean chit.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Verma, Abhishek 1968 births Indian National Congress politicians from Delhi Living people People from New Delhi Indian socialites Businesspeople from Delhi Arms traders