In the latest development in the VVIP chopper deal, a picture of the AgustaWestland kingpin has been revealed for the first time.
The Enforcement Directorate has started tracking the money trail to middleman Christian Michel.
The ED also found out that the 51-year-old kingpin, who helped Finmeccanica executives to secure the VVIP chopper deal worth 3,600 crore, was paid a kickback of 26 million Pounds.
It has also been revealed that this was not Michel’s first deal in India. According to the CNN-IBN news report, Michel has had business links in India dating back to the 1980s.
As a matter of fact, he owns four properties in Delhi, a house in Safdarjung Enclave, a farmhouse in Mehrauli and two houses in Ishwar Nagar.
The report also said that Ramesh Kumar Nanda, a travel agent and the owner of Media Exim Pvt Ltd, was supervising these homes and the money.
The ED first tracked the phone calls made by Michel from The Claridges Hotel in Delhi where he was staying during the deal. While examining the phone calls made by Michel, one of them, about the chopper deal, led the ED to a PSU director. From there they got a lead which took them to a Major General in the Indian Army which further guided them to a car driver.
It was the driver who led the ED to RK Nanda. During interrogation, Nanda accepted that he was handling Michel’s money in India and gave the ED all the details, transactions history, the money trail from Dubai to Delhi and several other links of the kingpin in Delhi.
At present, Michel is absconding.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)