Interpol detains Agusta broker in Italy on ED plea

NEW DELHI: The Italian middleman in the AgustaWestland VVIP choppers deal, Carlos Gerosa, has been detained in Italy on a request made by the Enforcement Directorate through the Interpol for seeking his custody and interrogation.

The agency is likely to move soon for his extradition and a team may be sent for this purpose. In the Rs 3,600 crore deal, an alleged kickbacks of Rs 423 crore has been paid to Indians and some foreigners by the Italian company.

In January 2014, India scrapped the contract with 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 for securing the deal.

The ED and the CBI have registered a case and are investigating the corruption and money laundering charges against several individuals and companies, including former Indian Air Force chief S P Tyagi and his family members.

The two agencies have also issued Letters Rogatory to multiple countries to gather more leads and evidence in this case.

After the detention of Gerosa, the Italian authorities have informed the ED which is preparing to move for his extradition shortly. Gerosa, one of the three foreigners wanted in the case of alleged bribery, was held when he was coming from Switzerland to Italy.

The other two are British national Christian Michel James and Italian Guido Haschke. A red corner notice by the Interpol has also been issued against the other two last year.

The ED, in its second charge sheet filed in the case last year, had said the three middlemen "managed to" make inroads into the IAF in order to influence and subvert its stand reducing the altitude ceiling of helicopters from 6,000 m to 4,500 m in 2005 after which AgustaWestland became eligible to supply the helicopters for VVIP flying duties.