The News Minute| July 17, 2014| 6.05 pm ISTAn investigation done by David Pallister for Exaro News on Christian Michel, a key middleman in the AgustaWestland deal has been exclusively given to The News Minute for publication.An Italian judge has issued an arrest warrant for Christian Michel, the British businessman accused of bribery in the sale of Anglo-Italian AgustaWestland helicopters to India. Italian prosecutors have publically alleged that he was a middleman in the sale of 12 AW 101 aircraft to the Indian air force, using a slush fund of 30 million euros. His Italian lawyer, Rosemary Patrizi Dos Anjos, dismissed the warrant as “absurd.” The court has also issued arrests warrant against Indian lawyer Gautam Khaitan, accused of helping Finmeccanica unit AgustaWestland bribe.Who is Christian Michel?Christian Michel, 52, was named by Italian investigators as a key intermediary between the helicopter manufacturer and India's former Air Chief Marshal, SP Tyagi. An arrest warrant for Giuseppe Orsi, the chief executive of Finmeccanica, the Italian parent company of the helicopter group, said he had "transmitted to the consultant Michel Christian, the sum of around 30 million [euros], in order in part to carry out corrupt activity with the goal of acquisition of the deal and the execution of the contract".Investigations into Michel’s financial dealings have revealed that he has unobtrusively invested some of his money in two luxury goods shops in Delhi and Mumbai through a UK registered company. It is the first instance of Michel’s direct participation in UK corporate affairs since he was banned from taking any influential position in business by the Insolvency Agency in 2004.The ban was imposed after one of his companies that traded with India, Entera Corporation Ltd, went bust with debts of £1.3 million. He did not dispute his “unfit conduct” by trading “to the detriment of its creditors.”Michel is a long-standing agent for the Somerset helicopter company AgustaWestland which is owned by the Italian defence contractor Finmeccanica. Former Finmeccanica Chairman and CEO, Giuseppe Orsi, and the former CEO of AgustaWestland Bruno Spagnolini are on trial in in Italy on charges of international corruption and falsifying invoices they have repeatedly denied. A verdict is expected in October. Prosecutors have asked for a six year sentence for Orsi and five years for Spagnolini.Michel is currently living in Dubai where he has been based since Entera collapsed. There he set up Global Services FZE in the airport freezone and invested in the exclusive gated villa community of Arabian Ranches. His discreet return to investments via the UK began with the registration of Beetle Nut Home Ltd in October 2009 – just as the helicopter deal had concluded the final negotiations stage. This was originally set up by a 29 year old Danish woman, Christine Spliid, two years out of Warwick University business school. She owned all 50 shares. The following February two more young directors had joined the firm: 24 year old twins Saahil and Sonya Mehra, who are British citizens of Indian descent living in north London.By October 2010 they both held 50 shares each as well. A year later there was a newcomer. Global Services FZE came on board with 50,000 shares, while Spliid held 20,000 and the twins 15,000 each.Neither Spliid nor Sonya responded to emails.The business of Beetle Nut Home caters for rich Indians. In the past two years it has opened two luxury shops in Delhi and Mumbai specializing in the sale of expensive crystal vases and figurines originally created by the legendary French glassmakers Rene Lalique and Jean Daum.Ostensibly the shops are run by their father Suraj Mehra. As the Indian Business Standard reported in February 2012 last year: “Suraj Mehra, one of the newest entrants in the business of luxury retail in India, believes that it’s important to be connected with the brand’s factory to stay aware of what’s going on. His children, too, visit the factory sometimes. Mehra, who returned to India in 2005, has been associated with French luxury crystal brands Lalique and Daum for the last 30 years, but has only just opened a store at Delhi’s DLF Emporio mall.”However, the route back to Christine Spliid’s flat in Notting Hill is more persuasive of corporate lineage. Her contact button on LinkedIn leads to the company website: bnhindia.com advertising the opening the new Mumbai store and an email for Sonia @bnhindia.com.Eighteen months ago the board of Beetle Nut Home acquired a new member – David Syms, a 50 year old businessman living in the Surrey stockbroker belt. Syms, along with his 80 year old father Charles, have been business associates of Michel for more than fifteen years. \In an intriguing twist, during a commercial spat with Dassault in the early 2000s, when he was seeking payment of another commission, it emerged that Michel had used different aliases, including the surname Syms.Michel is well connected in both India and the UK. His father Wolfgang, who died last year, had extensive business dealings in India in the 1980s and 1990s. His sister, Caroline is one of the leading literary agents in London. She was formerly married to Lord Evans, one-time chairman of the publishing house Faber & Faber and a Labour peer.