The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is set to file an independent request for Vijay Mallya’s extradition from Britain on money laundering charges, Mirror has learned, a step that will make it harder for him to dodge a trial in India.
This will be the second extradition bid against the 61-year-old tycoon, who owes Indian banks nearly Rs 9,000 crore, after the CBI’s request, which is being reviewed by a London court. Two Indian agencies have rarely filed separate applications to get the same high-profile absconder back from another country.
Top ED officials told this paper that they would shortly submit the extradition request to the ministry of external affairs, which will then inform British authorities of the same. The move will put Mallya under considerable pressure as the London court has slated another hearing on the existing extradition case on July 6.
Mallya fled India in March last year as banks stepped up a pressure to recover loans from him. Following India’s appeal, the Scotland Yard arrested him in April, but he secured bail till December 5. He denies committing any crime in his financial dealings and told the London court on Tuesday that he had enough evidence to prove his innocence.
But just a day after his defiant stand, the ED formally charged him with money laundering, saying he siphoned off portions of a loan meant for his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines to his Formula One team Force India. The agency filed a prosecution complaint in a Mumbai court, detailing how Mallya allegedly diverted funds from a Rs 900-crore loan from IDBI Bank.
“The ED move seeking extradition should be construed as an independent step aimed at bolstering India’s ‘arguments’ for money laundering and criminal conspiracy charges that the ED and CBI have filed against Mallya,” HitenVenegavkar, a lawyer for the Enforcement Directorate told Mirror.
The CBI had filed a charge-sheet against Mallya on January 24. An ED officer said his agency’s extradition request would show that not one, but two independent investigations had nailed Mallya for money laundering, for misleading banks by making dubious personal and corporate guarantees, and for willfully defaulting on loans despite adequate funds.
“Our application against Mallya is meant to buttress the CBI charge sheet and add extra evidentiary heft to the case when his extradition case comes up for hearing in London on July 6,” the senior officer said.
Vengavkar said now that the ED had filed a 4,000-page complaint against Mallya under Section 46 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, the Mumbai court would either issue summons or a fresh non-bailable warrant.
According to a source in the Enforcement Directorate, Mallya hid details about his assets and shareholdings while offering personal and corporate guarantees to a consortium of Indian banks. He allegedly created a maze of shell companies to “camouflage” his moveable and immovable assets worth over Rs 1,760 crore.
But what prompted the ED to consider a separate extradition bid against Mallya was the evidence that he manipulated figures to show that Kingfisher Airlines had a revenue of Rs 7,862 crore in 2008-09 when in reality, it was Rs 5,577 crore, the source said. The airline’s brand value was also overstated.
From the Rs 900 crore IDBI loan, two sums — Rs 41.83 crore and Rs 11.86 core — were transferred to Force India’s account, according to the ED complaint. The agency, in fact, believes that a major chunk of the loan was transferred to “overseas parties”.
