AgustaWestland: CBI seeks middleman's extradition from Italy

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has sent a fresh request to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to extradite middleman in AgustaWestland scam, Carlo Valentino Gerosa, from Italy, a source said on Monday.

As per the source, the investigative agency has said that according to Italian law an extradition treaty is not required for the extradition of a person facing criminal charges.

Earlier, Italy reportedly rejected India's request to extradite Carlo Gerosa. It had reportedly cited Gerosa's European citizenship- he holds a Swiss passport- as a reason behind rejecting the request.

In November last year, the CBI submitted a request for extradition of Gerosa to the MEA.

According to CBI sources, Gerosa can provide important clues in connection with the scam. He is said to be an important link in Rs. 3,727 crores VVIP chopper scam.

Gerosa was arrested by the Italian agencies last October on the basis of an Interpol red corner notice.

He is accused in the multi-crore chopper deal in which bribes were allegedly paid to individuals for sloping the contract towards UK-based AgustaWestland.