In a major breakthrough, Christian James Michel, a British middleman wanted by Indian investigative agencies in connection with the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam, is set to arrive in India on Wednesday morning, a government official told Sputnik.
Christian Michel is accused of bribing Indian Air Force officials, including former service chief S.P. Tyagi, to manipulate the operational requirement of the choppers favouring AgustaWestland. Michel has been in detention in Dubai since the Court of Cassation, in November, dismissed a petition filed against an extradition order of the lower court.
In its charge sheet, India’s apex investigative agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation, had alleged that Tyagi took bribes through Khaitan from AgustaWestland to change the specifications such as the operational flight ceiling from 6,000 meters to 4,500 meters, and bringing down the cabin height to 1.8 meters. Earlier, in 2002, Agusta’s bid to win the contract was rejected, as its AW-101 helicopter failed to fly at 6,000 meters.