Agusta Westland Helicopter Scam: The Supreme Court granted bail to middleman Christian Mitchell on Tuesday (February 18, 2025) in the 3600 crore rupees AgustaWestland case of 2005. The CBI was investigating the case and Christian Mitchell was in CBI custody for six years, but do you know that in this scam, Christian Mitchell’s sister claimed that Sonia Gandhi’s name was pressurized by pressuring her brother. Efforts were being made to call.
According to the report of India Today, in the year 2018, Mitchell’s lawyer Rosmari Patriji and sister Sasha OJman had claimed that in Dubai, India’s investigating officer was making a pressure on Mitchell to implicate Sonia Gandhi. There was a sensation after his statement. Michelle’s sister and lawyer had said that the investigating officers were pressurizing that his brother would give the confession that Mitchell met Sonia Gandhi at the time of the helicopter deal and had an identity from him.
Did the investigating officer want to confess?
The sister claimed that what was not true wanted to confess to Mitchell. Michelle had never met Sonia Gandhi nor had any bribery. If Mitchell confesses this, then freedom would be found, but Mitchell refused to do so.
Many officers jailed in high profile case
The AgustaWestland helicopter scam was a high profile case, in which 12 helicopters were to be purchased for Rs 3600 crore. It was also alleged that leaders and Defense Army Officers were bribed to get the contract. There was so much high profile that former Defense Secretary Shashikant Sharma and Air Force Chief were also trapped. SP Tyagi was jailed and the deal was canceled in 2014 on suspicion of scam, but the center of the allegations was the British Arms Consultant Christian Mitchell, which AgustaWestland sent India to India as a middle man to get the deal, in which 7 percent commission was also fixed.
Mitchell was in CBI custody since 2018
When the Enforcement Directorate investigated in 2016, it was found out that Mitchell had taken a bribe of 225 crores from Augusta. After this, Mitchell was arrested in UAE in 2017. In 2018, he was extradited from Dubai to India. Since then, he was in CBI custody till he got bail.
Learn when the deal was done
Mitchell has been working at the AgustaWestland company since 1980. His father also worked with the same company. There was a lot of uproar in Italy about this scam, but the matter was settled in fast and two officials, including the former CEO of AgustaWestland, the subsidiary of Finmacica, were also punished. The special thing in this entire scam is that the deal was held in the government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the year 2004, but after changing the government, Manmohan Singh’s government moved forward with a deal with correction.
3600 crores was scam
Under this deal, 12 helicopters were to be purchased for VVIP for Rs 3600 crore. Since the helicopter selling company was Finmainica Italian company, the Congress was easily accused of scam and the investigation was handed over to the CBI.
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