Wolfgang Michel’s son Christian Michel – the brother of the literary agent Caroline Michel – wanted by Interpol over bribery
Always dressed in a Savile Row suit, Milner Street, Knightsbridge resident Wolfgang Michel was a regular at PJ’s in London’s Fulham Road. He shared his views about Germany and Judaism with anyone who’d listen and once showed me a copy of Mein Kampf that – for some strange reason – he had in his briefcase. Now, three years after this businessman’s death, his son, Christian James Michel, is a marked man and wanted by Interpol over a bribery scandal over a £408 million defence contract in India.
Chelsea and Dubai based Christian Michel – whose “exceptionally connected” sister Caroline Michel is the chief executive of the literary and talent agency Peters Fraser & Dunlop and chairwoman of the Hay Festival – is, according to the investigative news site Exaro News, is alleged to have acted as a middleman for the supply by AugustaWestland of twelve helicopters to the Indian Air Force.
It is suggested that Michel received some “£21.9 million, partly destined to support the corrupt activity meant to win the order and partly meant to implement the contract” and that the Italian police captured information about his role in the deal in bugged telephone conversations.
54-year old Michel – whose father was also involved in an attempt by Colonel Gadaffi to donate £10 million to the Labour party between 1998 and 2001 according to The Guardian – previously was banned from being a director of any UK company for seven years in 2004. At the time, he admitted to “unfit conduct” by causing an investment company he was involved in, Entera Corporation, “to trade to the detriment of its creditors”.
Interpol’s “red notice” for Christian Michel’s arrest can be viewed here.
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