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AgustaWestland Scam: CBI gets five-day custody of 'middleman' Christian Michel Live

The Investigators Claim That Christian Michel Brokered The VVIP Choppers Deal With The Indian Air Force. He Had Allegedly Paid A Bribe To Officials And Politicians To Help AgustaWestland Get The Contract.

News Nation Bureau | Edited By : Shashikant Sharma | Updated on: 05 Dec 2018, 06:11:05 PM
British citizen Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP choppers scam case, is being questioned at the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) headquarters in Delhi. (Photo: ANI)

New Delhi :

British citizen Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP choppers scam case, is being questioned at the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) headquarters in Delhi. Michel was extradited to India from Dubai on Tuesday night and brought to the national capital in a special aircraft. Later in the day, he will be produced before the Patiala House Court. The investigators claim that it was Michel who brokered the VVIP choppers deal with the Indian Air Force. He had allegedly paid a bribe to officials and politicians to help AgustaWestland - the British arm of Italian firm Finmeccanica - get the contract from the Indian government to purchase 12 AW101 helicopters.

Here are the Highlights on AgustaWestland VVIP choppers scam:

04:55 pm: Michel is being taken back to the CBI HQ.

04:54 pm: Christian Michel moves bail application to the court. But for now, court keeps it pending for the next hearing.

04:41 pm: Here is what the CBI court said during the proceedings:

Court permits Michel's lawyer to meet him two times in day - In morning 10 am  to 11 am and one hour in evening

CBI gets five-day custody of 'middleman' Christian Michel

- Custody is needed as we  have to know where the money spent, have to find out whole  money trial

- There is a chain form Augusta westand , 37 mililian euro came into Michel account ..Where this money went, asks CBI

- The court says, "Have to confront with document, have got into about classified material".

Court asks Michel whether he had supplied copy of chargesheet to accused

04:38 pm: CBI seeks 14 days police custody of Christian Michel.

04:29 pm: Christian Michel produced before special CBI judge Arvind kumar

03:42 pm: Security beefed up: Security forces have been deployed outside the Patiala House Court complex, where Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal, would be produced shortly.

01:00 pm: VISUALS: Alleged middleman in Agusta Westland deal Christian Michel brought to India late night yesterday after being extradited from UAE.

12:15 pm: BREAKING NEWS: AgustaWestland VVIP choppers deal middleman Christian Michel will be produced before the Patiala House Court in Delhi shortly.

12:00 pm: What ED chargesheet says about the role of Christian MichelED said that their investigation has found that Michel received around Rs 225 crore from AgustaWestland. The money was nothing but ‘kickbacks’ paid by the firm to execute the 12 VVIP helicopters deal in favour of the company in 'guise of' genuine transactions for performing multiple work tasks in the country.

11:50 am: What CBI says in its chargesheet about the role of Christian Michel: In its chargesheet, the CBI alleged that Christian Michel visited India 25 times and stayed in Hotel Ashoka and Claridges in Delhi and ITC Windsor in Bengaluru when the deal was being signed. While acting as the middleman in the deal, the CBI chargesheet said, Michel procured confidential documents and secret information from the defence ministry and the Indian Air Force and shared it with AgustaWestland executives through one of his associates in Mumbai.

11:30 am: BJP President Amit Shah on Christian Michel's extradition: Opposition has no other issue, what is wrong if we nabbed the middleman? Does the opposition want to save him?

11:10 am: What is AgustaWestland VVIP choppers scam?: In February 2010, the then Congress-led UPA government had signed a contract with AgustaWestland - the British arm of Italian firm Finmeccanica – to buy 12 AW101 helicopters to ferry VVIPs, including the President of India, the Prime Minister and other important persons. Controversies surrounded the deal after reports that Finmeccanica paid a huge amount of money to several officials and politicians to win the VVIP choppers deal with the Indian Air Force. It was also alleged that some of the technical specifications of the helicopters...... CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

10:55 am: Christian Michel will be produced before special judge Arvind Kumar in Patiala House Court soon.

10:30 am:  Questioning of alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland helicopter deal, Christian Michel continues at CBI HQ, he will be produced in Delhi's Patiala House Court later today. 

10:00 am: Christian Michel, alleged middleman in AgustaWestland chopper deal, who was extradited to India from Dubai, was brought to CBI headquarter late on Tuesday night.

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First Published : 05 Dec 2018, 11:12:29 AM

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