The alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland chopper deal, Christian Michel will be extradited from Dubai to India on Tuesday, as informed by his lawyer. The extradition will be conducted after a court in Dubai denied his plea last month. He would arrive in Delhi on a private flight, said lawyer Rosemary Patrizi. The 54 year old is wanted in a Rs 3600 Crore VVIP chopper deal that involves the purchase of 12 luxury helicopters for use by the President, Prime Minister an other VIPS, by the previous UPA government.
Michel is one of the three middlemen being investigated, among Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa. The Enforcement Directorate in its chargesheet against him filed in June 2016, said he recived 30 million euros from AgustaWestland. It said the amount was a bribe for executing the 12-helicopter deal in favour of the firm in “guise of” genuine transactions for performing multiple work contracts in the country.
Back in 2007, the UPA government had signed a contract to purchase the luxury helicopters. However, the deal was scrapped six years later after allegations that AgustaWestland had paid kickbacks in India to secure the deal. AgustaWestland's parent company Finmeccanica earlier ran into allegations of bribe-giving in Italy. The Congress claims once corruption allegations were made, they ordered investigations, scrapped the deal and blacklisted the firm. However, the NDA has opened doors for them again and allowed them to participate in defence contracts.
