Chopper deal case: NBWs issued against two Italians

New Delhi: A special court on Monday issued non-bailable warrants (NBWs) against two Italian nationals who were alleged middlemen in Rs 3,600-crore VVIP chopper deal case after ED said they were required to be interrogated to ascertain the money trail.

Special CBI Judge Ajay Kumar Jain issued open NBWs against Carlo Gerosa and Guido Haschke, the two accused, after ED's special prosecutor NK Matta said that their custodial interrogation was required as some new facts have emerged during the probe.

Matta also said that some important documents have been received from the Swiss authorities as well as from Italy and both the accused were required to be interrogated about them.

The court, after hearing the submissions, issued the NBWs against Gerosa and Haschke who were named in the case lodged by ED as well as CBI which is running a parallel probe in the matter.

The court had earlier issued open NBW against British national Christian Michel James, an alleged middleman in the deal, on two separate pleas filed by ED and CBI.

ED had earlier claimed in the court that Agusta Westland had allegedly paid a "kickback" of around 70 million Euros, out of which around 30 million Euros was paid to James and his firm Global Services FZE, Dubai, while Gerosa and Haschke had cornered the rest.

ED had in July 2014 lodged a case under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against several persons who were named in CBI's FIR registered earlier.

In November last year, ED had filed a charge sheet in the case against businessman Gautam Khaitan and others, including Gerosa and Haschke.

CBI had named a number of persons in its FIR in the case who include former Indian Air Force chief SP Tyagi.

Tyagi, and others, including Gerosa, James and Haschke are among the 13 individuals named as accused in CBI's FIR.