AgustaWestland- CBI wants details of journalists, politicians, officials from middleman

New Delhi, May 12: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) will look into the legal provisions before it agrees to an offer made by James Christian Michel to be questioned through video conferencing in connection with the AgustaWestland case.

Michel a middleman of AgustaWestland had offered to be questioned through video conferencing.

"We may consider it" a CBI official informed OneIndia while also adding that the top priority would however be to bring him down to India.

There is a red corner alert that has been issued against him and members countries of the Interpol are required to detain him, the official also added.

In a spot of bother:

The CBI has made a lot of progress where this probe is concerned. It has managed to find the links between the middlemen and the firms that had been set up both in India and abroad.

The CBI says that Michel finds himself cornered as all the evidence point directly at him. In an interview with India Today he had said that he wanted to join the probe. He also said clearly, " I cannot say that there were no kickbacks."

Michel is alleged to have received a whopping Rs 360 crore from AgustaWestland. Out of this he had spent Rs 50 crore only on managing the media.

The rest were paid off allegedly as kickbacks to influential persons. In addition to this he is also said to have invested in immovable assets in India through another firm called Media Exim.

Big names could tumble out:

Michel has already assured that he would disclose details of the other two middlemen in the case, Guido Haschke and Gautam Khaitan who he had referred to as key figures.

Michel who has visited India several times was also in touch with media personalities and other influential persons.

The CBI says that specific questions would be asked. We want to unearth the entire trail in India. Already during out probe the names of several influential persons and four journalists have cropped up. Michel will be able to spill the beans on these persons.

OneIndia News