ED issues fresh summons to Vijay Mallya, asks him to appear on April 9

The ED issued fresh summons to liquor baron Vijay Mallya asking him to appear before it on April 9 for his role in a money laundering case in the over Rs 900 crore IDBI loan fraud case.

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday issued fresh summons to liquor baron Vijay Mallya asking him to appear before it on April 9 for his role in a money laundering case in the over Rs 900 crore IDBI loan fraud case.

Mallya, who was asked to appear before the ED today, had last night told that he will not present himself before ED investigators and sought time till May to depose before the agency.

The investigating officer of the case at ED's Mumbai zonal office, officials said, has been informed by Mallya that he will not be able to keep the scheduled date of April 2 and that he should be given a fresh date, sometime in the month of May.

Mallya was first summoned by the central probe agency to "appear in person" at its office in the Ballard Pier area of the western metropolis on March 18 but after he sought more time citing his prior engagements, the agency asked him to depose on April 2.

Mallya and Kingfisher Airlines Ltd HAD on March 30 submitted to the Supreme Court in a sealed cover a proposal for repayment of Rs 4,000 crore out of the loan amount of Rs 6,903 crore to the consortium of banks led by State Bank of India by September this year.

The United Breweries (UB) Chairman was first issued summons by ED under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and it required him to furnish documents related to his personal investments and finances, Income Tax Returns for the last five years and Passport.

The ED had recently registered a money laundering case against Mallya and others based on a CBI FIR registered last year. The agency is also investigating the overall financial structure of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines and will look into any payment of kickbacks to secure loan.

With Agency Inputs