Launderingcase:VijayMallya’s stepmother,othersmovecourt
HEARING ON SEPT 3 Fresh pleas filed intervenes with order to confiscate assets worth ₹4,234.84 crore by the ED MUMBAI:
On a day when liquor baron Vijay Mallya was asked to remain present in the Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court, failing which he would be declared a fugitive offender under the new law, a host of entities filed applications to intervene in the proceedings, before any order was passed to confiscate properties worth ₹4,234.84 crore belonging to the beleaguered businessman. The entities include his stepmother Ritu Mallya, Heineken NV and the official liquidator appointed by Karnataka high court, among others.
Mallya is contesting his extradition case in London filed by the Indian government on behalf of the ED and CBI, who have cases against him for an alleged bank loan default of around ₹9,000 crore, including interest.
Apart from the intervention applications, Mallya made a representation in the court through his lawyer, Amit Desai, on Monday that although they had received a notice to appear before the court, the ED had not provided them with a copy of the complaint. “In absence of the copy, how can we submit a reply,” Desai argued. Responding to Desai, ED’s lawyer, Niti Punde, said there is no provision in the law to provide a copy of the complaint. However, to give both parties a fair hearing, the court directed the agency to supply a copy of the complaint to defence.
The ED has so far attached assets worth ₹4,234.84 crore, worth of movable and immovable properties belonging to Vijay Mallya and his subsidiaries attached by ED under PMLA flat in Bangalore flat in Mumbai industrial plot in Chennai
coffee plantation land in Coorg
residential and commercial constructions in UB CITY and Kingfisher Tower in Bangalore
worth of Goa villa and Alibaug farmhouse. The farmhouse belongs to M/s Mandwa Farms Private Ltd which was controlled by Mallya, stated ED
worth of fixed deposits of Mallya
These fixed deposits include those with HDFC, shares of United Breweries (UB), United Spirits Ltd (USL) and McDowell Holding Co
claiming these properties had direct or indirect connection with Mallya and his two companies, Kingfisher Airlines Limited (KAL) and United Breweries Holdings Limited (UBHL).
The court has now fixed September 3 as the next date of hearing, after Ritu Mallya and many other companies approached the court stating that their properties worth of immovable properties belonging to Mallya attached by ED
were attached by the agency.
Mallya’s stepmother, through her lawyer Annapurna Bordoloi, filed an intervention application, claiming the ED had falsely attached 17% of shares of two companies that belonged to her. She has sought to be heard before the ED confiscates it. The official liquidator appointed by the Karnataka HC, too, approached the THE CASE AGAINST MALLYA
By 2009, M/s Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) had already availed loans aggregating ₹4,998.50 crore from various banks under multiple banking arrangements and was in further need of a loan, which was sanctioned by a consortium of banks
As the consortium sought to recover the dues, Mallya left India on March 2, 2016, to reach the UK CBI had initiated a probe against Mallya, Kingfisher Airlines and IDBI Bank officials in
2015
The ED which is probing the case of money-laundering against Mallya accused him of laundering proceeds though various shell companies
CHARGE SHEET FILED BY ED
ED had filed a charge sheet against Mallya and other officials of IDBI Bank. ED alleged that not only was the ₹950-crore bank loan obtained in a questionable manner, part of the loan has also been siphoned off abroad in a calculated manner
The 5,000-page charge sheet names nine persons as accused, including Mallya, former chief financial officer of KFA A Raghunathan, along with some former bank officials.
PMLA court. The liquidator was appointed to take over UBHL, after a single-judge bench of the Karnataka HC passed the order to wind up UBHL in 2017. This was done to recover the money owed to banks and others. Lakshmi Iyengar, counsel for the official liquidator, was directed by the Karnataka HC to appear and make submissions before the special
court earlier this month.
The ED pleaded that Mallya be directed not to create any thirdparty interest or alienate or sell any of the properties. The court asked the defence to file a reply on the ED’s plea and asked the agency to file a reply on the pleas of Ritu Mallya, official liquidator of the Karnataka HC and Heineken NV.