Chopper deal: Interpol red alert again for UK national

The charges under PMLA were not included earlier in the Interpol RCN notified against 54-year-old Christian Michel James, officials said. “These charges have been inserted and the notice re-notified. Indian authorities require him for prosecution in the case” they added. The CBI has sought his arrest for “criminal conspiracy, cheating, illegal gratification and abuse of official position.” 

An RCN, according to Interpol, is issued “to seek the location and arrest of wanted persons with a view to extradition or similar lawful action” in a criminal case probe. 

With this re-notification of the global warrant, both CBI and ED have now got RCNs issued against three alleged middlemen wanted in this case — Italians Carlo Gerosa and Guido Ralph Haschke and James — after a special court here had issued non-bailable warrants (NBWs) against them on their separate pleas late last year. 

In ED’s case, the court’s order came as it sought issuance of an open NBW against James, who is presently in Dubai, claiming that Agusta Westland had allegedly paid a “kickback” of around 70 million Euro out of which around 30 million Euros was paid to James and his firm Global Services FZE, Dubai while Gerosa and Haschke had allegedly cornered the rest. 

The agency had claimed that “investigations revealed that kickbacks received by James in his company M/s Global Services, FZE, Dubai in the guise of two agreements from M/s Agusta Westland, were nothing other than that of the kickback which is thus a proceeds of crime.” 

CBI had named a number of persons in its FIR in the case including former Indian Air Force chief SP Tyagi and the three middlemen as accused. Later, ED filed its case under criminal charges of money laundering.