Westland middleman held; faces extradition

Wanted European middleman Carlos Gerosa has been apprehended by authorities in Italy on the basis of an Interpol notice activated by the ED in connection with its money laundering probe in the Rs 3,600 crore Agusta Westland VVIP choppers deal case.

The central probe agency, official sources said, will soon move for his extradition to India through diplomatic channels.

The official said Gerosa was held when he was coming from Switzerland to Italy. A joint team of the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation is working on this case, the official said.

Gerosa, 70, is one of the three alleged middlemen wanted in this case and his interrogation and statement is very important for both the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI who are probing the case.

The ED had notified an Interpol red corner notice against Gerosa and two others -- British national Christian Michel James and Italian Guido Haschke -- 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 Indian Air Force in order to influence and subvert its stand regarding reducing the service ceiling of helicopters from 6,000 m to 4,500 m in 2005 after which Agusta Westland became eligible to supply the dozen helicopters for VVIP flying duties. Service ceiling is the altitude at which a helicopter can fly.

Investigators had found that remittances made by Michel through his Dubai-based firm to a media firm he had floated in Delhi, along with two Indians, were made from the funds which he got from Ms Agusta Westland SpA through "criminal activity" and corruption in the chopper deal that led to subsequent generation of proceeds of crime.