Christian Michel, Not been a cooperative witness

Christian Michel, an accused in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal bribery case, has not been of much help to the CBI in establishing the money trail. His custody with the agency ends on Wednesday.

Mr. Michel was extradited from Dubai on December 4 and arrested by the CBI. He has been accused of having played the role of a middleman in the deal and bribing public servants to ensure that the contract for supply of 12 helicopters went to AgustaWestland.

The agency got his custody to confront him with the documentary evidence gathered during the investigations. It questioned him on the funds routed through him. However, it is learnt that he is yet to share full details of the transactions under CBI scrutiny.

ED’s move

The Enforcement Directorate, which is pursuing the money laundering angle on the basis of the CBI case, is now expected to approach the court seeking Mr. Michel’s custody for interrogation. Over the past three years, the Directorate has unearthed the transactions made through several conduits, domestic and foreign companies, including “shell” firms. It has also filed multiple chargesheets and attached properties of the accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

It is alleged that €42.27 million (about ₹295 crore) was paid by the Finmeccanica group to Mr. Michel’s firms for the job. He entered into a criminal conspiracy with the co-accused.

Mr. Michel had entered into 12 contracts through his two firms allegedly to legitimise the illicit commission on the procurement, the agency has said.