AgustaWestland case: HC grants bail to ‘intermediary’ Christian Michel James in Rs 3,600-crore chopper scam

NEW DELHI: The Delhi excessive courtroom on Tuesday granted bail to ‘intermediary’ and British nationwide Christian Michel James in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland cash laundering case. The Supreme Court granted him bail in the CBI case on February 18.
The ED’s counsel had opposed Michel’s bail plea, arguing that the British nationwide failed to meet the “twin tests” required underneath the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and posed a flight danger.
Michel’s lawyer had argued for bail, citing that he had already spent a big time in custody. He stated that whereas the utmost sentence underneath the anti-money laundering regulation is seven years, Michel had already been imprisoned for over six years.
James was extradited from Dubai in December 2018 and subsequently arrested by the CBI and ED. He was certainly one of three alleged middlemen underneath investigation in the case, alongside Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa.
According to the CBI chargesheet, the VVIP chopper deal, signed on February 8, 2010, prompted an estimated lack of 398.21 million euros (round Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer. The ED chargesheet, filed towards James in June 2016, alleged that he acquired 30 million euros (roughly Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.