A Delhi court on Saturday sent Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland chopper case, to judicial custody till February 26 in a case filed by the Enforcement Directorate, ANI reported. Special Judge Arvind Kumar made the decision after the agency sought his custody to continue its investigation into a money laundering case.
The Enforcement Directorate told the Patiala House Court that Michel may have received money from other defence deals too, PTI reported. DP Singh, the investigating agency’s lawyer, said Michel’s interrogation had “yielded good results”.
“The money seems to be flowing in. The involvement of hawala operators is writ large,” Singh was quoted as saying. The agency told the court that Michel may flee from justice if he is freed.
The businessman was extradited to India on December 4. He was in the custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation for 15 days. On December 22, the Enforcement Directorate arrested Michel after a special Central Bureau of Investigation court remanded him to its custody for seven days.
On December 29, the Enforcement Directorate said Michel had identified a “Mrs Gandhi” during an interrogation, ANI reported. However, the investigating agency did not specify details about the identity of “Mrs Gandhi” and in what context Michel had referred to her. The same day, the Delhi court sent Michel to seven more days in the agency’s custody.
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