He had a long career at Finmeccanica, Italy's leading high-technology group, and in November 2011 was appointed its chief executive officer[1] and chairman.

[2] Orsi was arrested by Italian police in February 2013 on bribery allegations in the Indian Chopper deal scandal, and was released after three months.

Three years later, he was appointed sales director of Agusta's Aircraft Division with responsibility for worldwide market development, strategy, and negotiation.

In 1997, as deputy general manager of Agusta, he managed the company's presence in the international market and negotiated a joint venture with Bell Helicopters involving Tiltrotor and AB139 helicopters, saying that "Consolidating ownership of the AB139 will provide a single face to the customer, leading to increased sales and greater customer satisfaction related to follow-on support services.

Prosecutors were looking into whether AgustaWestland paid bribes to secure the €560 million sale of 12 helicopters to the Indian government and, if so, what role Orsi had in this scheme.

[8] The probe was triggered by accusations made by Borgogni,[7] who supplied prosecutors with details of kickbacks supposedly paid by AgustaWestland to guarantee the purchase of the helicopters.

[12] Another April 2012 report indicated that Naples prosecutors were gathering evidence in Switzerland about Finmeccanina's bank accounts purportedly opened in that country for the purpose of channelling kickback funds.

"[7] In a front-page editorial about Orsi and Finmeccanica on 24 October, Corriere della Sera commented: "If the government does not want to, or does not know how to, give guidelines to management, then it should take the responsibility to sell it.

"[7] On 27 October, a report stated that Orsi and Finmecannica were "under increasing public pressure as corruption probes into the firms' foreign sales continue to expand," with investigators now looking into possible irregularities in connection with contracts in Brazil and Panama, in addition to India.

"[7] According to a February 2013, report, Finmeccanica's credit ratings had recently dropped, with Standard & Poor lowering it to BB+/B, from BBB-/A-3, which took its debt "below the investment grade level."

It was noted that a year earlier, shortly after his appointment as CEO, Orsi had "presented Finmeccanica’s 2011 results and solemnly promised never again to have to discuss such dreadful numbers.

"[14] On 12 February 2013, Italian police arrested Orsi, and Public Prosecutor Eugenio Fusco ordered him held in jail in Busto Arsizio, near Milan.

A few hours after Orsi's arrest, Shashikant Sharma, Defense Secretary of India, said his government had ordered an investigation of the helicopter deal.