AgustaWestland middleman Christian Michel to be extradited, orders Dubai court
Dubai, Sept 19 (IBNS): A Dubai court on Tuesday allowed the extradition of a British middleman in the AgustaWestland chopper scandal Christian Michel to India.
Last year, Michel was arrested in the UAE.
The extradition proceedings are going on since then.
The British middleman was wanted in India for allegedly organising bribes in exchange for a contract for VVIP helicopters.
Top officials in investigating agencies told The Times of India that Michel's extradition was confirmed to them through unofficial channels.
An Italian court investigated the contract because Agusta's parent company is Finmeccanica, an Italian defence manufacturer, and decided that vast amounts of bribes were routed to India by company executives to land the deal for 12 VVIP helicopters for about Rs. 3,600 crore.
The deal was cancelled by India in 2014 after the Italians began investigating it, a point the Congress is flashing in its defence along with the fact that AgustaWestland has not been banned by the new government from bidding for new defence deals.
In 2016, former Air Force Chief SP Tyagi was arrested in connection with the VVIP chopper deal scam.
He was the first ever military chief of the nation who was arrested.
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