Soon after the VVIP chopper deal case accused Christian James Michel was brought back to India from the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, the Central Bureau of Investigation began questioning him.
According to agency officials, Mr. Michel complained of anxiety after he was taken to the CBI headquarters in the early hours of Wednesday on completion of all legal formalities. “Doctors were called in for a check-up. After the medical treatment, he was questioned by the investigators,” said an official.
On Wednesday morning, he was again put to questioning after being served breakfast.
“Now that we have got his five-day custody, he will be confronted with the documents we have gathered during the investigations and those received from our counterparts in Italy and Switzerland,” said the official.
Mr. Michel may help the agency plug the loopholes in the money trail. While the investigators claim to have unearthed the chain of transactions pertaining to the other two alleged middlemen, Carlo Gerosa and Guido Haschke, they are yet to identify all those who received funds allegedly through Mr. Michel.
The CBI has alleged that Mr. Michel had been appointed as a “controller” of the other two middlemen by the helicopter suppliers.