Trouble appears to be mounting for the Congress party. Recently, it was reported that Agusta Westland middleman, Christian Michel, had identified ‘AP’ and ‘Fam’. He reportedly confirmed that AP refers to Ahmed Patel, senior Congress politician, and Fam refers to the Family. He was also reported to have access to UPA’s internal meetings.
And now, the Enforcement Directorate has told the Delhi Patiala House Court that Michel has mentioned ‘Mrs. Gandhi’ during interrogation but it could not yet reveal the context in which she was mentioned.
Agusta Westland case: Enforcement Directorate tells Delhi’s Patiala House court that Christian Michel has taken the name of Mrs Gandhi but in what reference can’t be said right now. pic.twitter.com/9foBKVd3V0
— ANI (@ANI) December 29, 2018
The ED has also told the Court that Michel has identified the manner in which HAL was removed from the Agusta Westland deal. Claiming that he was being tutored from outside, the agency has asked the Court to ban Michel’s lawyer access to the accused.
Agusta Westland case: ED tells Delhi’s Patiala House court that Christian Michel has identified how HAL was removed from the deal and the deal was offered to Tata instead. ED also seeks to ban Michel’s lawyer’s access to him alleging he is being tutored from outside https://t.co/xvQSaJnyxH
— ANI (@ANI) December 29, 2018
The Congress party claims that Christen Michel is being forced to take the name of the Gandhis.
RPN Singh Congress on ED says Christian Michel has taken the name of “Mrs Gandhi”: There is pressure on Michel to name a particular family, why is the chowkidaar trying to pressurize the govt agencies to name a family? BJP script writers are working over time. #Agustawestland pic.twitter.com/qCxYeObJYN
— ANI (@ANI) December 29, 2018
The agency has further claimed that Michel has spoken about “the son of the Italian lady” and how he will be the “next PM of the country”.
#BREAKING on #MichelNamesGandhis | ED reveals that Christian Michel has also spoken about “the son of the Italian lady” and how he is going to become the “next PM of the country”
Tune in for the details-https://t.co/cRXgs4JsKn
— Republic (@republic) December 29, 2018
The Court has granted the ED Michel’s custody for another 7 days.
Agusta Westland case: Delhi’s Patiala House Court sends alleged middleman Christian Michel to seven-day ED remand pic.twitter.com/irZyb3ofPg
— ANI (@ANI) December 29, 2018
Christian Michel is a middleman in the VVIP chopper deal between AgustaWestland and the Indian Air Force (IAF). The wanted fugitive and middleman in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper deal, Christian Michel, was brought to India earlier this month following his extradition by the UAE.
Earlier it was revealed that Michel had travelled to India 300 times between 1996 and 2012. His visits stopped only after Orsi was arrested by Italian sleuths. Simultaneously, AgustaWestland’s internal audit had confirmed that Christian Michel had made dubious payments of Rs. 276 crores.
Christian Michel is accused of money laundering, bribery, and fraud in connection with the Rs 3,600-crore worth AgustaWestland scam. It is believed that not only did he pay kickbacks to politicians, officers and agents but also involved certain celebrity journalists to swing the deal.
As per latest reports, Michel’s lawyer has been ordered to keep a distance of 3 feet from him and has been granted visiting time of only 15 minutes each every morning and evening.
