New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday targeted the Congress over the reported revaltions made in the supplementary chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate against Christian Michel in the AgustaWestland VVIP Chopper scam.
“You may remember this chowkidar had brought middlemen of the helicopter scam from Dubai. Italy’s Michel mama and other middlemen have been questioned. The chargesheet filed on the basis of it reveals that those who have been given bribe by middlemen include AP and FAM,” said PM Modi, while addressing a rally in Dehradun.
"In the same chargesheet, it has been revealed that AP means Ahmed Patel and FAM means Family. You tell me which family is Ahmed Patel close to,” he added.
Christian Michel, the alleged middleman arrested in the AgustaWestland VVIP choppers deal case, is understood to have identified the initials "AP" as Ahmed Patel in a chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) before Delhi's Patiala House Court on Thursday.
The code names 'AP' and 'FAM' were used in Christian Michel's diary which was seized by the ED.
However, Michel told the court on Friday that he never named anyone during the interrogation, and alleged that the central government was using agencies for political agenda.
He claimed the copy of the charge sheet, which was filed on Thursday, was provided to the media before it was provided to Michel. He has questioned as to how the charge sheet was leaked to the media even before its cognisance was taken by the court.
As per the chargesheet, Michel also acknowledged knowing 'Mrs Gandhi' and revealed that he was in touch with her and knew her since 1986-87. However, the chargesheet did not elaborate what was the context in which 'Mrs Gandhi' was named and what was her full name.
The probe agency, in its 3,000-page supplementary charge sheet had also named David Syms, Michel's alleged business partner, and two firms owned by them-- Global Trade and Commerce Ltd and Global Services FZE -- as accused.
Michel, extradited from Dubai in December last year, was one of the three middlemen being probed in the case, besides Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa, by the ED and the CBI.
On January 1, 2014, India scrapped the contract with Italy-based Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of paying kickbacks to the tune of Rs 423 crore by it for securing the deal.
