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Firtash spokesman Lanny Davis calls on U.S. prosecutors to correct record in Austrian courts that Firtash never proposed bribes, despite false claim by prosecutors
On December 31, 2018 , the New York Times published a lengthy report proving that the document relied on by U.S. prosecutors as "clear proof" of Firtash's alleged proposal to bribe Indian officials was not such proof at all. Rather, the Times proved that document – a single PowerPoint slide – that mentioned using bribes to pay named Indian officials to secure the mining license was, in fact, created entirely by McKinsey & Company, not Firtash and colleagues. See link here.
Dan Webb , attorney for Mr. Firtash and former Chicago U.S. Attorney, is quoted in the Times article as stating: "Mr. Firtash had nothing to do with the creation or presentation of the PowerPoint slide proposing bribery and used by U.S. prosecutors to support extradition of Firtash.
Davis also pointed out that the indictment of Firtash, made public in 2013, "did not contain a single word or allegation that any bribes were paid to anyone in India or anywhere else" by Mr. Firtash. He added: "We hope and trust that the Chicago prosecutors will send appropriate written submissions to the Austrian Justice Minister as well as the Austrian courts to correct the record [now that they know with certainty that their written accusation against Mr. Firtash based on the slide was false] and withdraw their false claim that the slide was "clear proof," much less any evidence at all, of Mr. Firtash proposing bribes.
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Contact: Eleanor McManus
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