VVIP Chopper: ED\'s supplementary charge sheet against Michel claims 42 mn euro in kickbacks

VVIP Chopper: ED's supplementary charge sheet against Michel claims 42 mn euro in kickbacks

Press Trust of India  |  New Delhi 

told a Thursday that Christian Michel, the alleged middleman arrested in the VVIP Chopper scam, and other accused received 42 million euros as kickbacks in the deal.

In its first charge sheet, filed against Michel in June 2016, ED had alleged that Michel and others received EUR 30 million (about Rs 225 crore) from

said he will decide on whether to take cognisance of the ED's supplementary charge sheet and to summon the accused on April 6.

ED's special public prosecutors D P Singh and N K told the court that British nationals Syms and Michel through their firms had received the money without undertaking any work against the receipt of such amount.

The money was received by the firms to execute the 12 helicopters deal but no helicopters were bought, ED said.

"The money was paid by companies to these two firms. The money was then routed to different companies and individuals. This was done through these two firms in which both (Michel and Syms) of them are directors... Syms' showed that substantial amount has been credited to it," ED said.

The agency said that this money trail completed the missing link in the total EUR 70 million trail of the deal which was being investigated by it.

ED said that EUR 28 million was routed through the other channel by Gautam Khaitan, and his wife and their firms.

It had earlier alleged, in the charge sheet, that companies owned by Saxena and his wife -- Interstellar Technologies, Mauritius, UHY Saxena, Dubai, Matrix -- have received proceeds of crime from

ED had claimed that Michel had entered into 12 contracts through two of his firms with Finmeccanica, AgustaWestland, Westland Helicopters, UK and so on.

Michel, extradited from in December last year, was one of the three middlemen being probed in the case, besides and Carlo Gerosa, by the ED and the CBI.

On January 1, 2014, scrapped the contract with Italy-based Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of paying kickbacks to the tune of Rs 423 crore by it for securing the deal.

The CBI on September 1, 2017, had filed a charge sheet in the case in which Michel was named as one of the accused.

Former IAF Chief S P was also chargesheeted by the CBI in a along with nine others in connection with a bribery case in the VVIP chopper deal.

(73) is the of the to be chargesheeted in a corruption or a criminal case by the CBI and he has denied all charges against him.

Besides him, the agency has also chargesheeted retired J S Gujral along with eight others, including five foreign nationals, in the charge sheet filed before the

AgustaWestland, is also one of the accused.

Others named in the charge sheet are -- Tyagi's cousin alias Julie, Gautam Khaitan, alleged European middlemen Carlo Gerosa, Christian Michel, Guido Haschke, former AgustaWestland and former

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Thu, April 04 2019. 18:35 IST