Agusta deal: ED asks for property details of 10 officers of the IAF and Def Min

The Enforcement Directorate has written to the Ministry of Defence, asking for the property details of 10 officers of the ministry and the Indian Air Force in connection with the Agusta Westland helicopter scam.

The list of names came from a handwritten note apparently prepared by middleman Christian Michel, part of the order of the Milan appellate court that gave out prison terms last month to former heads of AgustaWestland and its parent company, Finmeccanica.

Michel has since disowned the note. In a letter to the Prime Minister on 8 November, 2015, he claimed the note was a fake prepared by Guido Haschke, another suspected middleman, to stymie investigations, according to The Indian Express.

In the note, payments are marked against initials of designations that investigators believe refer to IAF officers, bureaucrats and politicians. However, ED sources say that the details they have asked for are "not an indication of bribe flow but just an examination of allegations".

"We have requested the ministry of defence to send us details of properties declared by officers who held designations suggested in the Michel note. We are trying to verify suggestions that the note makes. There are some names on our list which are not part of the note," said an ED officer.

According to the Milan court order, the note had initials that perhaps denoted designations of officials under headings of "AF" and "Bur". This note also mentions "AP" under the head of "Pol". The court order has described these heads as "Air Force", "Bureaucrats" and "Politicians". Against each head, there are figures in Euros.

Against "AF", the figure is Euro 6. Against "Bur", the figure is Euro 8.4. Against "Pol" is the figure of Euro 15/16.

Initials mentioned under "AF" include Dch, PDSR, 2FTT, DG Maint. Under the head "Bur", the initials mentioned include DS, JS Air, AFA Air and DG Acq, CVC and Auditor gen.