AgustaWestland Scam: Middleman Christian Michel Sent to Judicial Custody Till December 28
Michel's counsel told the bench that keeping the 54-year-old in custody would serve no purpose, as he has already revealed to the investigators all that he knew about the VVIP chopper deal.
New Delhi, December 19: Alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam, Christian Michel, was on Wednesday sent to a 10-day judicial custody. A Delhi court, which heard Michel's bail plea, turned down the same while granting the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) his custody till December 28.
Michel's counsel told the bench that keeping the 54-year-old in custody would serve no purpose, as he has already revealed to the investigators all that he knew about the VVIP helicopter deal. The prosecution, however, remained vehement on keeping him detained, claiming that he has not thoroughly contributed in the probe so far. CBI Says Agusta Middleman Christian Michel Not Cooperating in Probe.
Michel, extradited from the UAE on December 6, has remained under CBI's custody for the last 15 days. He was first sent to a five-day remand, followed by a 7-day judicial custody.
Michel is charged by the CBI of brokering the VVIP chopper deal with Indian politicians in 2010, on behalf of AgustaWestland, the British arm of Italian arms manufacturer Finmeccanica.
The investigating agency claims that bribes were paid to top politicians and bribes to swing the deal in favour of AgustaWestland. The Rs 3,600 crore deal was inked on February 8, 2010 -- and was later abrogated after it was found to cause a loss of Euro 398.21 million (approximately Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 19, 2018 04:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).