Mallya denies wrongdoing, lashes out at ‘media trial’
two days after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) charged liquor baron Vijay Mallya with fraud and criminal conspiracy, the former chairman and managing director of Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) denied any wrongdoing.
In a statement that Mallya issued on Twitter on Friday morning, he said he was being unfairly targeted by the media.
“Yet it is reported that I have fled or run away owing money to banks that I never ever borrowed in the first place. Till this minute there is no final judicial determination on what KFA owes to banks and what I may owe in my personal capacity after trial. In our country I assumed that innocence prevails till proven guilty. Media have convicted me guilty without trial with widespread influence,” Mallya stated.
A senior CBI official brushed aside Mallya’s claims.
“Mallya is now struggling for air because he knows he has no defence. A red-corner notice has already been issued against him and he will have to respond once the court hears the matter, following the chargesheet that we had filed on Tuesday. This is just his attempt at garnering sympa- thy and creating hype for no reason,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
On Monday, the CBI’s central and Bengaluru divisions raided the premises of Mallya-run UB Group in Bengaluru in connection with a ₹900-crore loan default and money laundering case. Hours later, on Monday night, the CBI arrested nine officials from KFA and IDBI Bank Ltd, including the bank’s former chief.
On Tuesday, the agency filed a 300-page chargesheet in the matter against the IDBI and KFA executives under the Prevention of Corruption Act and sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code for “entering into a criminal conspiracy for misutilisation, misappropriation and diversion of funds”.
In its chargesheet, the CBI stated that the ₹ 900 crore loan by IDBI had been sanctioned in violation of credit norms. It added that the “Mallya-led Kingfisher Airlines had allegedly diverted funds to the tune of ₹263 crore out of ₹900 crore for personal use”.