Middleman Christian Michel in AgustaWestland copter deal brought to India

Coinciding with the visit of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government extradited Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper deal.

Official sources confirmed that he was brought to New Delhi from Dubai on Tuesday night. Michel was seen as the missing link to seek probe into the involvement of top political personalities in the alleged scam. The Congress has claimed that the government was forcing Michel to frame UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in the case. In 2016, former Air Chief, SP Tyagi was arrested over allegations that he accepted bribes to tailor specifications at the instance of his cousins. He became the first ever military chief — former or current — to be arrested.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), in its charge sheet filed against Michel in June 2016, alleged that he received 30 million euros (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland and Michel was one of the three middlemen probed in the case, alongside Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa. The CBI has alleged that there was an estimated loss of 398.21 million euros (~Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer in the deal that was signed on February 8, 2010 for the supply of VVIP choppers worth 556.262 million euros.

Last month, a Dubai court upheld a lower court order which said that Michel could be extradited and he was placed under detention.

Floated Firms To Route Funds

ED investigation found that remittances had been made by Michel through his Dubai-based firm Global Services to a media firm he floated in Delhi, along with two Indians.