Indian tycoon Mallya says ‘keep dreaming’ over alleged fraud

Bloomberg

Fugitive Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya said there was “no loan diverted anywhere” and reporters could “keep dreaming” about allegations he committed a billion-dollar fraud as he waded through cameras outside a London court.
Appearing on Tuesday at Westminster Magistrates’ Court for a hearing on his extradition after his April 18 arrest, Mallya was mobbed by questions from reporters, a video from Asian News International shows. His arrest followed an extradition request from his home country over allegations of fraud.
“You can keep dreaming about the billion pounds provided you have facts to justify your question,” Mallya said in response to a reporter’s questions about the alleged missing money, the video shows. “There is no loan diverted anywhere.”
The 61-year-old was arrested in London on a warrant issued by Indian authorities accusing him of conspiring to defraud India’s IDBI Bank through a 91 billion-rupee ($1.4 billion) loan to Kingfisher Airlines Ltd—a premium airline he founded in 2005 and shut down seven years later. He was released on 650,000-pound ($830,000) bail and ordered to surrender his
passport.
His London lawyer, Anand Doobay at Boutique Law, declined to comment beyond confirming the next court hearing on July 6.