Rosemary Patrizi
The Italian court acquitted Giuseppe Orsi, the head of AgustaWestland’s parent company Finmeccanica, in a bribery case related to the 2010 chopper deal with the Indian government.
It was due to lack of evidence.
Did the court find anything linked to Michel?
In the judgment, the Milan Court of Appeals has dedicated 10 pages to Michel, wherein it is mentioned that he had no involvement with the flight altitude change (there were allegations that the flight altitude of the helicopters was tweaked to favour AgustaWestland).
The AgustaWestland deal was put on hold after Italian authorities arrested Orsi in 2013. What were the discrepancies found?
The only testimony was a complaint made [by a former director of Finmeccanica] in Naples. During the proceedings, the court found that the complaint was baseless.
Do Michel’s alleged confessions, mentioned in the ED charge-sheet, have any bearing on the case in Italy?
No, because the budget sheet does not have any evidence value in Italy. It is just a piece of paper. Michel has never confessed to anything.
Will the Italian courts rethink the acquittal of Orsi and Bruno Spagnolini (former AgustaWestland CEO), if the Indian government provides fresh evidence in the AgustaWestland case?
The next hearing is on May 22, 2019, in the Supreme Court of Cassation. The hearing is not because of the investigation in India. Also, it is not a court of appeal and, hence, does not review the merits of the case.