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New Delhi / Tribune News Service
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said it has attached properties worth Rs.1,411 crore of business tycoon Vijay Mallya and his company United Breweries (Holding) Ltd in a case of alleged diversion of Rs.430 crore from an IDBI Bank Ltd loan to his Kingfisher Airlines Ltd to purchase properties overseas.
ED, on its Twitter account, wrote that it has attached properties worth Rs.1,411 crore on current market value of former liquor baron Mallya and UB Group’s holding company United Breweries (Holding) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). ED attaches properties worth Rs1411 Crores(Market Value) of Vijay Mallya & UB (Holding) Ltd under PMLA in Kingfisher Airlines IDBI Bank case
“We have attached nine properties of Mallya including bank account worth Rs34 crore and eight immovable properties in Mumbai, Coorg, Chennai and Bengaluru,†a top ED official said on the condition of anonymity. He said this is a provisional attachment and the investigative agency will refer this attachment to relevant authorities to proceed with the adjudication to go ahead with sale. “It may take sometime,†the official added.
A UB Group spokesperson declined to comment.
Assets that have been pledged with the banks include the Kingfisher House located in Mumbai, the Kingfisher brand, two helicopters and shares worth Rs.745 crore (value at the time of pledging).
In May, ED officials had said that the investigative agency has identified Rs.4,000 crore worth assets of Mallya for potential attachment.
This attachment comes a day after ED moved a petition in a Mumbai court asking it to declare UB Group chairman Mallya a proclaimed offender, as part of its efforts to bring the businessman back from the UK.
ED suspects Mallya diverted Rs.430 crore from IDBI Bank loan to now grounded airline Kingfisher Airlines to purchase properties overseas.Mallya had denied this allegation.
ED, a specialized financial investigation agency under the ministry of finance enforcing PMLA and Foreign Exchange Management Act, is investigating the alleged money laundering by Mallya.
The businessman, whose grounded Kingfisher Airlines owes over Rs.9,000 crore in loans and interest to creditors led by State Bank of India (SBI), left for the UK on 2 March as lenders closed in. The PMLA court is expected to give its verdict on proclaimed offender petition by ED on Monday.
A court can declare a person against whom an arrest warrant has been issued a proclaimed offender if it feels that the person is absconding. The offender is then required to appear at a specified place and time within 30 days. The court can also order the attachment of any property belonging to the concerned person to force him to turn up.
SBI filed four interlocutory applications on 2 March seeking Mallya’s arrest, impounding of his passport, disclosure of all assets and liabilities and stopping the $75 million payout by Diageo Plc, Mint reported on 2 March.
The service tax department has put out an advertisement for the sale of Mallya’s corporate jet, whose registration number famously bore his initials, VT-VJM, Mint reported on 24 March. The auction is intended to recover Rs.370 crore in dues and penalties. In an interview to the Financial Times on April 29, Mallya said he was in “forced exile†and that reporting by the Indian media had turned public opinion against him.