CBI to widen probe against Kingfisher
COCKPIT DETAILS Besides IDBI, airline allegedly defaulted on additional loans worth 3,100 cr from 10 public sector banks
NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is likely to widen its probe against liquor baron Vijay Mallya’s long-grounded Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) for allegedly defaulting on additional loans worth ` 3,100 crore from 10 public sector banks.
“The CBI has been probing just one case of alleged loan default against Mallya’s now defunct Kingfisher Airlines since last October, but it could soon register more cases to examine further non-return of loans up to ` 3,100 crore,” a CBI source said.
The agency will check records connected with the recent categorisation of KFA as a willful defaulter by State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB) and United Bank of India (UBI), the source added.
The CBI is also likely to seek help from overseas authorities to verify allegations of “unspecified diversion” of a portion, equivalent to around $200 million, of the total loan sum to tax havens such as Cayman Island and Mauritius.
Last October, the CBI registered a First Information Report (FIR) naming Mallya and former KFA chief financial officer A Raghunathan for allegedly not returning a ` 900-crore loan taken from the IDBI Bank. The FIR also mentioned IDBI officials who allegedly colluded with the accused defaulter. The central agency’s probe revealed that IDBI allegedly gave the loan despite KFA’s negative credit ratings and financial troubles.
The Mumbai unit of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday registered a money laundering case against Mallya and others in connection with the IDBI loan default case, based on the CBI case. The ED has sought details from the bank and may question the airlines’ officials soon.
The CBI is verifying whether IDBI gave the loan to the airlines against the value of its trademarks alone and despite the opposition of a board member. It will also examine if the loan could have been diverted to unspecified purposes including management of T-20 cricket teams in the Indian Premier League and the Caribbean Premier League.
Mallya’s UB Group, however, has denied any wrongdoing so far.
“The company co-operated with the officials and provided the necessary documents and will continue to offer co-operations,” a UB Group spokesperson had said after the CBI registered the FIR in the IDBI case.
According to CBI director Anil Sinha, there is a perceptible rise in cases of bank frauds and financial crimes taken up by the CBI. “In 2015, CBI took up 171 cases involving funds of ` 20,646 crore,” Sinha had said at a recent meeting with heads of public sector banks and financial institutions to finalise a plan to tackle non-performing assets (NPAs) — loans that do not yield returns.
According to government figures, gross NPAs of 39 listed banks stood at ` 4.43 lakh at the end of December 2015, nearly 10 times the level prevailing in 2009.