Prosecutor seeks 6-year jail term for ex-Finmeccanica boss in Indian case

BUSTO ARSIZIO Italy (Reuters) - An Italian prosecutor has asked for a six-year jail term against former Finmeccanica Chairman and CEO Giuseppe Orsi for paying bribes to win a 560-million-euro ($764 million) helicopter deal with India. Orsi, who ran Finmeccanica's helicopter unit AgustaWestland before taking the top job at the Italian defence company in 2011, is accused of bribing Indian officials and falsifying invoices to obtain the high-profile contract in 2010. Public prosecutor Eugenio Fusco also asked for a five-year sentence for Bruno Spagnolini, who took over Orsi's role at AgustaWestland. The two managers, who left Finmeccanica after being arrested in February 2013 in connection with the graft investigation, have repeatedly denied wrongdoing during the 12 months of the trial. The court in the Italian town of Busto Arsizio said it will hold other hearings in October before ruling on the case. Orsi's lawyer, Ennio Amodio, said on Thursday that the prosecutor's arguments were based on conjectures. Spagnolini's lawyer, Massimo Bassi, said he rejected entirely the prosecutor's allegations. The verdict could be crucial for Finmeccanica's efforts to restore its reputation at a time when the group is restructuring its business and fighting for contracts in emerging countries. The corruption scandal prompted India to terminate the contract in January 2013 after only three helicopters were delivered and raised the spectre of a possible blacklisting of AgustaWestland from India, one of the world's fastest-growing defence markets. ($1 = 0.7331 Euros) (Reporting by Emilio Parodi, writing by Danilo Masoni; editing by Foo Yun Chee)