VVIP chopper case: Court sends Christian Michel to 7-day custody after ED arrest
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Michel was produced before Special Judge Arvind Kumar where the ED sought his 15 days custody.
A Delhi court Saturday sent Christian Michel, arrested in the Rs 36,000 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper case by the CBI, to seven days custody of the Enforcement Directorate.
Special Judge Arvind Kumar dismissed the bail plea of Michel, the alleged middleman in the case.
Earlier in the day, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested Michel in a money laundering case and sought his 15 days-custody.
The court allowed the ED to interrogate the British national inside courtroom for 15 minutes after the agency sought his custodial interrogation. He was arrested after that.
The ED had sought his arrest in a money-laundering case.
Delhi Court allows Enforcement Directorate to interrogate Christian Michel for 15 minutes, questioning underway in courtroom https://t.co/M5WaC6IJbV
— ANI (@ANI) December 22, 2018
He was arrested in the UAE and extradited to India on December 4. The next day, he was produced before the court, which allowed his five-day custodial interrogation by the CBI. It was extended by five more days, and later for another four days.
The court had reserved the order on Michel's bail plea on December 19 and had sent him to judicial custody till December 28.
Michel is among the three alleged middlemen being probed in the case by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the CBI. The others are Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa.
The CBI has alleged there was an estimated loss of Euro 398.21 million (about Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer in the deal that was signed on February 8, 2010 for the supply of VVIP choppers worth Euro 556.262 million.
The ED, in its charge sheet filed against Michel in June 2016, had alleged that he received EUR 30 million (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.