Vijay Mallya moved Rs 6000 crore loan to shell companies

In a major development that may spell more trouble for controversial businessman Vijay Mallya, the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate are preparing a charge sheet alleging he laundered a major chunk of the Rs 6,000 crore bank loans taken for Kingfisher Airlines.

A leading daily reported that the money was diverted through shell companies in seven countries, including the US, the UK, France and Ireland.

The officials said that Mallya used to pay back some part of the loan to the banks to gain their confidence to get more funds from them.

Mallya, the 61-year-old chief of the erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines who owes over Rs 9,000 crore to IDBI Bank and various other Indian banks, had fled India to escape legal proceedings in connection with default on the loan repayment.

The 61-year-old tycoon is sought by Indian authorities for allegedly defaulting on several bank loans amounting to nearly Rs 9,000 crores.

Mallya, who has been in self-imposed exile in the UK since March 2016, was arrested by Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant on April 18 and is currently out on bail.

The CPS, arguing on behalf of the Indian government earlier this month, had told the court that they had "excellent cooperation" with the Indian authorities in the case and now had sufficient material to establish a prima facie case for the extradition of the former chief of erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines.

India and the UK have an Extradition Treaty, signed in 1992 and in force since November 1993, under which recently a Bangladeshi national wanted in the UK on murder charges was to be extradited from India. Mohammad Abdul Shakur is accused of murdering his wife Juli Begum and two daughters in the UK in 2007 before fleeing the country. He was arrested in Assam and his repatriation to the UK was delayed due to an ongoing court case in New Delhi.

OneIndia News