According to Christian Michel, kickbacks were not paid not to people above then airforce chief SP Tyagi.
Christian Michel James, alleged to be a middleman in the 3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal, has said that although he had described Congress chief Sonia Gandhi as "the driving force" of the deal in a letter in 2008, he did not know the Gandhis personally.
Christian made the claims in an interview with NDTV on Thursday and said that lobbying did not imply bribes were paid. He added that he had to prove they are innocent to prove his innocence. "I have to protect the Gandhis to protect myself," he told the TV channel. However the fact that Michel 'confirmed' the veracity of the note where he calls Gandhis as the driving force may be used as potential political ammunition by BJP. Congress so far has steadfastly questioned the authenticity of the note.
He also repeated his allegation that when Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with the Italian premier in New York last year, he had offered to release the two Italian marines imprisoned in India in exchange for details on the Agusta deal that could nail Sonia Gandhi. However, the government has denied this.
Meanwhile according to a TOI report, the Enforcement Directorate will soon approach the UAE to extradite Christian James Michel. The UK national also confirmed to the daily that he visited India 180 times between 2005 and 2013. He also said that "kickbacks were paid in the AgustaWestland deal but they went below (then IAF chief) SP Tyagi, not above him".
It is believed that about Rs 250 crore were paid as kickbacks to politicians and officials to clinch the deal.
A court in Italy's Milan recently sentenced Italian defence and aerospace major Finmeccanica's former chief Giuseppe Orsi and the former CEO of the firm Bruno Spagnolini on corruption charges in the sale of the helicopters.
The Italian court had earlier recorded note of prosecutors purportedly written by middleman Christian Michel in March 2008 to Peter Hullet, India head of Anglo-Indian company, revealing that he had advised the people handling the VVIP helicopter deal to target people close to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, including the prime minister and some of her closest advisers, to win the contract. "Dear Peter, since Mrs Gandhi is the driving force behind the VIP, she will no longer fly with MI8. Mrs Gandhi and her closest advisers are the aim of the High Commissioner," said the letter of Michel seized by the probe team.
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