AgustaWestland deal: Send us property details of 10 officers of IAF, ministry, ED writes to Defence

ED sources said their “request” for details of assets of individuals is “not an indication of bribe flow but just an examination of allegations” that the note suggests.

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Former Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi arriving at the CBI headquarters in New Delhi in connection with alleged corruption in AgustaWestland choppers deal. (File Photo)

Probing alleged payoffs in the AgustaWestland helicopter deal, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) wrote to the Ministry of Defence earlier this week, seeking property details of 10 officers of the ministry and the Indian Air Force (IAF).

Sources said the list of officers was drawn largely on the basis of a handwritten note, allegedly prepared on the directions of suspected middleman James Christian Michel. The note, which Michel has now disowned, is part of the order of the Milan appellate court that handed prison terms last month to former chiefs of AgustaWestland and its parent company Finmeccanica.

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In a letter to the Prime Minister on November 8, 2015, Michel claimed the note was wrongly attributed to him, that it was fake and was prepared by Guido Haschke, another suspected middleman, to throw investigators off track.

The note mentions several initials which investigators believe refer to IAF officers, bureaucrats and politicians. Mentioned as a “budget-sheet” in court papers, it has initials that supposedly correspond to designations held by different people at that time.

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The Milan court mentioned the note while citing the statement of a witness identified as Venere.

ED sources said their “request” for details of assets of individuals is “not an indication of bribe flow but just an examination of allegations” that the note suggests.

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“We have requested the Ministry of Defence to send us details of properties declared by officers who held designations suggested in the Michel note. We are trying to verify suggestions that the note makes. There are some names on our list which are not part of the note,” an ED officer said.

According to the Milan court order, the note mentioned initials, perhaps denoting designations of officials under various heads of “AF” and “Bur”. It is the same note that mentions “AP” under the head of “Pol”. The court order has described these heads as “Air Force”, “Bureaucrats” and “Politicians”. Against each head, there are figures in Euros.

Against “AF”, the figure is Euro 6. Against “Bur”, the figure is Euro 8.4. Against “Pol” is the figure of Euro 15/16.

Initials mentioned under “AF” include, Dch, PDSR, 2FTT, DG Maint. Under the head “Bur”, the initials mentioned include DS, JS Air, AFA Air and DG Acq, CVC and Auditor gen.

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