NGO that filed corruption complaint against Rafale deal ‘meddled’ for money in Africa, claims report

NEW DELHI: A French NGO Sherpa on Friday tweeted that it has filed a corruption complaint with the national financial prosecutor's office in Paris in order to clarify the conditions surrounding the sale of 36 Rafale plane by Dassault Aviation to India in 2016.


However, the NGO itself has been accused of “meddling” in several African countries in the past for money, according to a media report.

In a May report published in International Policy Digest, the relatives of Mauritanian president, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, have filed a case of defamation against Sherpa after it -- in collaboration with the cousin of the president -- filed an "unproven" corruption allegation against the president.

The report alleged that the founder of the NGO, William Bourdon, has been a part of the smear campaign against the Mauritanian government, to tarnish its reputation.

Mauritania is not the only country, Bourdon has been accused of meddling in, according to the report.

Equatorial Guinea, the Bongo family in the state of Gabon and the family of Denis Sassou-Nguesso (Congo-Brazzaville) all have become the target of Boursdon's "ill-gotten property" survey, claimed the report.

"The NGO is merely destroying the reputation of (specifically) large-scale and vulnerable companies to gain “media attention and funds” in exchange," the report said quoting the NGO's critics.

Both India and France have denied any wrongdoing in the defence deal inked in 2016 for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets.