Christian Michel
In AgustaWestland case, alleged middleman Christian Michel on Wednesday sent to judicial custody till December 28 by Delhi Court. On December 4, Michel was arrested in the UAE and extradited to India. The next day, he was produced in the court, which allowed his five-day custodial interrogation by the CBI which was later extended by five more days.
Michel is among the three alleged middlemen being probed in the case by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The others are Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa.
After the court issued a non-bailable warrant against him, both the agencies notified an Interpol red corner notice (RCN) against him.
The court had earlier extended by four days the CBI custody of Michel on the ground that he needed to be confronted with various documents in the case.
The CBI had said that he was required to be taken to the premises of Pawan Hans India Ltd in Mumbai to verify his version of his alleged attempted negotiations to buy back WG-30 helicopters, to identify the shipper and to confront the officials of Pawan Hans India.
The agency said that voluminous documents have been received from various countries pursuant to the 'Letter of Requests' and the accused was yet to be confronted with a number of them.
The CBI has alleged there was an estimated loss of Euro 398.21 million (about Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer in the deal that was signed on February 8, 2010 for the supply of VVIP choppers worth Euro 556.262 million.
The ED, in its charge sheet filed against Michel in June 2016, had alleged that he received EUR 30 million (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.
(With inputs from agencies)
