The Patiala House court today rejected Christian Michel’s bail appeal, handing his custody to the Enforcement Directorate for 7 days. The court had yesterday allowed ED’s petition seeking Michel’s production in court over a money-laundering case.
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The Enforcement Directorate had asked for Michel’s custody for 15 days. The special judge Arvind Kumar allowed the ED permission to interrogate Christian Michel in the court for 15 minutes and later granted them his custody for 7 days. The court had earlier reserved its 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 investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the CBI. The other two are Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa. The ED, in its charge sheet filed in June 2016 had alleged that Michel received EUR 30 million (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.
Christian Michel is accused of money laundering, bribery, and fraud in connection with the Rs 3,600-crore worth AgustaWestland scam. It is believed that not only did he pay kickbacks to politicians, officers, and agents but also involved certain celebrity journalists to swing the deal.
Christian Michel was extradited from Dubai to India on 4th December 2018. He was produced in the court on the next day, which granted his 5-day custodial interrogation to the CBI. The CBI got his custody extended by 5 days and later by another 4 days.