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The Enforcement Directorate said that court that the alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland VVIP Chopper deal seeks tips from his lawyers through chits to tackle questions put forth to him on Congress leader Sonia Gandhi. The Defence Counsel began to contend that Christian Michel suffers from dyslexia, and therefore holding him in custody for a long time would constitute harassment.He contended by reason of remand application of the CBI which required curtailment of legal assistance given to Michel.
Nevertheless, the CBI Court rejected the contention made by the defence counsel and granted custody for further seven days. Also, the ED emphasized the need to divulge the larger conspiracy involved in the case. It is pertinent to state that Christian Michel was extradited to India from UAE on alleged money laundering charges to the tune of EUR 30 million (INR 225 crore) from AgustaWestland. Further, the CBI alleged that the VVIP Chopper deal worth Euro 556.262 million caused loss to the exchequer in India to the tune of Euro 398.21 million (Rs. 2666 crore).
Previously, the accused was lodged in Tihar Jail in a CBI case. Along with Michel, the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation alleged that there were two more middlemen—Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa. The ED and CBI notified the Interpol to issue Red Corner Notice against the accused post the issuance of a non-bailable warrant by the court.
Earlier, the Court had extended the CBI Custody of Michel as he had to answer the question on a huge number of documents, which were received from different countries in accordance with ‘letter of request’. Further, the court said that the officials need to put the accused in the premises of Pawan Hans India Ltd, wherein the accused had reportedly involved in negotiations to buy back 30-WG Helicopters, and had to identify the shipper and face the officials of Pawan Hans India Ltd.
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