UAE ‘swaps’ British arms consultant for runaway princess
India reported to have agreed deal to extradite Dubai ruler’s daughter
A BRITISH arms consultant at the centre of a bribery scandal over a helicopter deal in India was exchanged for a runaway Dubai princess in an extraordinary extradition, sources have disclosed.
Christian Michel, 57, described as a “smooth” business dealer by detectives from India’s Central Bureau of Intelligence (CBI), was extradited from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last month to face police over a deal that has sent shock waves across New Delhi’s political and military establishment.
He was handed to India in an exchange for Princess Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoum, the daughter of Dubai’s ruler, who was intercepted by the India Navy during her attempt to flee the UAE last year.
The princess’s capture off the coast of Goa drew global attention for her dramatic escape from Dubai in a yacht with the aid of a French spy as she allegedly sought asylum for mistreatment by the royal family.
European and Asian diplomatic sources in New Delhi told The Sunday Telegraph they believe India struck a deal to swap Princess Latifa with Mr Michel, who owns a home and company in Dubai but has long been wanted by Indian authorities.
Mr Michel is being questioned over a deal for 12 helicopters for VIPs, for the company AgustaWestland, the British arm of the Italian aviation company Leonardo, that dates back to the Congress Party-led Indian government of 2004-14.
Mr Michel, who is said to have widespread contacts in the Indian military and political worlds, was allegedly hired by AgustaWestland to influence top officials in the air force and government, led by Manmohan Singh, to help secure the Rs 3,600 crore (£400million) deal for the company. His diaries, seized by Italian police and lhanded to the CBI, show he paid €6million (£5.3million) to Indian Air Force officers, €8.4million to bureaucrats and €15-16million to an unidentified political family, according to investigators.
After his arrest, Mr Michel claimed that the CBI had put pressure on him to sign a confession that he had met Sonia Gandhi, the former Congress president who was a close aide of Mr Singh, when the deal was being negotiated in 2010.
Mr Michel said that he refused to sign as he had never met Ms Gandhi in his life. He also alleged that the CBI had promised him a waiver in the case if he signed. The CBI denies the allegations.
Observers have asked why it has taken this long for Narendra Modi, the prime minister, and his government to instigate proceedings, suggesting that part of the reason is to deflect attention away from allegations that Mr Modi himself was part of a suspicious deal for Rafale fighter jets from a French company in 2016.
“Isn’t it coincidental that this Michel guy suddenly appears on the scene during the Rafale scandal, and close to an election?” said Maroof Raza, a defence analyst and former army officer.
Asked about the alleged extradition swap, a member of Mr Michel’s legal team, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Telegraph: “That there was a swap deal is my understanding too.”
India and the UAE have a treaty dating back to 2011 but it generally covers citizens of the two countries, so the extradition of a third party national is very unusual.
In addition, any quid pro quo would mean India intervened to detain Princess Latifa while she was en route to seek political asylum in Goa, as she claimed, which technically should have at least granted her a hearing.
Radha Stirling of Detained in Dubai, a criminal justice NGO in the UAE, said the swap was reportedly arranged personally in a phone call between Sheikh Mohammed and Prime Minister Modi. Ms Stirling accused both countries of “bilateral disregard for standard norms of diplomatic relations”.
Mr Michel’s lawyers claim he is being treated like a “terrorist” by Indian authorities, who on Thursday granted him access to the British High Commission for the first time since being detained in December.
The UAE did not respond to requests for a comment.