Copter scam: ED probes 3 Indians paid by Christian Michel

The ED has, in its VVIP AgustaWestland (AW) copter scam probe, taken under the scanner payments worth several lakhs made to three Indians by Christian Michel — one of the three European middlemen accused of swinging the 2010 deal.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has established the identity of one of the three recipients so far, even as it seeks to track the other two to record their versions. The recipient, whose identity was confirmed, told the agency that he accepted cash in two instalments in 2011 from Michel allegedly as a “friendly loan,” said a source.

The agency is however ascertaining the reasons as to why he did “not return the loan,” according to a source. “ED is verifying why the payments were made to three persons by Michel and if they were part of bribe funds that the chopper’s UK-based maker AW Limited is accused to have routed to India to swing the 2010 deal,” said the source.

ED had in June submitted its second chargesheet as part of the money-laundering probe into the scam, naming Michel and a few others as accused.

The ED charge-sheet said AW allegedly paid over Rs 375 crore in bribes to ease a key technical requirement — service ceiling, which refers to a chopper’s maximum flying elevation.

The service ceiling was reduced to 4,500 from 6,000 metres in March 2005, which enabled the otherwise ineligible AW chopper to re-enter the fray.

ED’s first charge-sheet against a few accused, including Gautam Khaitan, was submitted in 2014. The deal was scrapped by the previous United Progressive Alliance government the same year.

On April 7, Italy’s Milan Court of Appeals had awarded jail terms to Italian firm Finmeccanica’s former top official Giuseppe Orsi and a former AW top official, Bruno Spagnolini, for the Indian 2010 deal. Finmeccanica, AW Limited, Michel, Orsi and Spagnolini were named in ED’s case first information report.