In a twist of ways, Vijay Mallya has released a two-year-old letter written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with a statement saying he was “making every effort” to settle his dues to banks but he had been made the “Poster Boy” of bank default and a lightning rod for public anger. “I wrote letters to both the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister on April 15, 2016, and am making these letters public to put things in the right perspective. No response was received from either of them,” Mallya said. He added, “I have been accused by politicians and the media alike of having stolen and run away with Rs 9000 Crores that was loaned to Kingfisher Airlines. Some of the lending banks have also labelled me a wilful defaulter.”
Mallya also said that he was “tired of this relentless pursuit” by the government and its criminal agencies. “I respectfully say that I have made and continue to make every effort, in good faith to settle with the Public Sector Banks. If politically motivated extraneous factors interfere, there is nothing that I can do.” The defunct tycoon believes that the CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) were “determined” to frame criminal charges against him. “The surprising fact is that the ED has objected in court to my Group's applications for sale of assets in order to allow me to repay creditors, including Public Sector Banks.”
Meanwhile, the ED has moved a special court to declare the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines' chief Vijay Mallya a “fugitive economic offender” and confiscate all his properties. The financial probe agency said that it has filed an application before a court in Mumbai to declare Mallya a fugitive economic offender under the newly-promulgated Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance.
The ED has also sought court orders for confiscating all of Mallya's properties worth £1.25 billion, which includes immovable properties as well as movable properties in form of shares. Vijay Mallya is the first person under which action is proposed under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance. Agency officials said fugitive diamond jeweller Nirav Modi, who is currently wanted by investigating agencies in a £1.35 billion Punjab National Bank fraud case, would be the second person to be declared as a fugitive economic offender under the new law.
The Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance, 2018, was approved on April 21 in a bid to bring back defaulters of huge bank loans who escape abroad, and also provide for attachment and confiscation of the properties of the economic offenders. The Ordinance makes provisions for a “Special Court” under the PML to declare a person as a Fugitive Economic Offender, or a person against whom an arrest warrant has been issued in respect of a scheduled offence and who has left India so as to avoid criminal prosecution, or being abroad, refuses to return to India to face criminal prosecution.
The ED had filed two chargesheets last week against Mallya, Kingfisher Airlines Ltd (KAL), UBHL and others under Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Following the chargesheets, the court issued fresh non-bailable warrant against Mallya in both the cases. As per their chargesheet, the investigation revealed a criminal conspiracy since inception for obtaining or sanctioning of bank loan to KAL in gross violations of established or prescribed procedures with no intention for repayment of loan. ED has also alleged that instances were noticed where Mallya was alienating his assets by disposing of the properties held in the name of the companies which were indirectly controlled by him and was also getting funds outside India by way of having a deal with Diageo Plc.
It said, “These details were intentionally withheld from the banks and later on, alienated some of the assets and tried to obfuscate the banks from enforcement of guarantees submitted by them. All these fraudulent activities were undertaken beginning with availment of loan.” The ED also alleged, “There was a conspiracy amongst Mallya and the officials of KAL and others to project and get accepted the brand value as a collateral security in spite of the same being a hypothetical asset and suffering from deficiencies and also deliberately avoided in submitting the valuation report of another brand valuer.”
“KAL had offered as a collateral towards security, negative lien on fleet of hire purchase or finance lease aircraft against the loans availed from the banks despite being well aware that the said security was only a symbolic security in nature and was grossly inadequate to cover the exposure of the banks,” the ED said.
