VVIP chopper deal: Who is arrested middleman Guido Haschke?

Swiss authorities have arrested Guido Ralph Haschke, the alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter deal, on charges of bribery, Italian media reported on Thursday.

Here is all you need to know about Haschke:

** Reuters

* Guido Ralph Haschke, is a 62-year-old business consultant who claims to provide "Project Advisory Services" to governments.

* According to Italian prosecutors, AgustaWestland's former chief executive Giuseppe Orsi hired US-born Guido Ralph Haschke, who was then a consultant for the Finmeccanica group, to lead dealings in India to secure the contract.

* Haschke and his partner Carlo Gerosa, prosecutors said, had close ties with the Tyagi brothers in India - Juli, Docsa and Sandeep Tyagi - whose cousin Sashi Tyagi was former Air Force chief.

* Haschke was arrested by Switzerland police on Friday, according to Italian news website La Repubblica, and he could be taken to Italy as early as next week.

* Haschke is an Italian and US citizen who lives in Lugano, Switzerland. He was earlier arrested in October 2012 by Switzerland police after he was raided by Italian officials, but he was soon released with authorities withholding his US and Italian passports.

* According to an Indian Express report, the Italian government suspects he got a 51 multi-million Euro commission from helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland to influence politicians and decision makers in Italy and India.

* Italian officials had sought his extradition from Switzerland in March this year following the alleged VVIP chopper scam.

* The CBI, which is investigating the bribery case in India, had named Haschke in its FIR. However, Times Now, quoting CBI sources, said they will not seek the immediate extradition of Haschke to India until further developments in its investigation.