AgustaWestland deal middleman Christian Michel suffering from Dyslexia, claims his lawyer

Christian Michel was extradited to India from the UAE earlier this month.

NEW DELHI: AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal middleman Christian Michel is suffering from dyslexia, his counsel Aljo K Joseph said on Wednesday. Joseph said that Michel is dyslexic and has been asked to write in cursive writing. 

He was extradited to India from the UAE earlier this month. The Enforcement Directorate is likely to move an application before a city court on Wednesday seeking custody of Michel in connection with the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal. The agency's move is expected as the 57-year-old British national's CBI custody ends on Wednesday. 

His name surfaced in 2012 as one of the three middlemen for swinging the deal in favour of AgustaWestland and making illegal kickbacks to the Indian authorities. The other two middlemen are Ralph Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa.

The special judge on December 15 allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation to quiz Michel till December 19. The CBI is grilling Michel since December 4 when he was extradited from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). As per reports, the CBI needs more examination of Michel who is being confronted with documents the agency has as evidence of the corrupt practice during the deal. 

The CBI has informed the court that voluminous documents have been received from five countries pursuant to the Letters of Request and a number of documents are yet to be confronted with the accused. 

According to the CBI, Rs 92.3 lakh was given to some Air Force officers and Michel, through his shell companies, to bear the air expense of two serving/retired Air Force officers during 2009-2013 which needs to be verified. The CBI said that Michel was not cooperating in the probe and was evasive.