Vijay Mallya may have diverted 'huge chunk of loan' to shell companies

A report in a leading national daily quotes sources within CBI and ED as that Mallya diverted funds to shell companies in seven countries including UK, France and Ireland.

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New Delhi: Vijay Mallya may have put a large portion of the Rs 6,207-crore loan taken from a consortium of banks into shell companies. A leading daily has quoted official sources in CBI and Enforcement Directorate as saying that the money was diverted to shell companies in seven countries.

While Mallya has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, CBI and ED though are now preparing a chargesheet and it is reported that a large chunk of the money - taken as loan to help the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines recover - could have been put in shell companies in UK, France, Ireland etc.

Mallya fled to Britain in March 2016 after being pursued for recovery of Rs 8,191 crore owed to a consortium of 17 Indian banks by his now defunct Kingfisher Airlines. He was arrested and granted bail in London on April 18 by the Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant. He had attended a central London police station for his arrest and was released on conditional bail a after providing a bail bond worth 650,000 pounds, assuring the court of abiding by all conditions associated with extradition proceedings, such as the surrender of his passport and a ban on him possessing any travel documents.

India and the UK have an Extradition Treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under the arrangement Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, who was sent back to India last October to face trial in connection with his involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002.

The Indian government had in February 2017, handed over to British authorities a formal request for Mallya's extradition, saying it had a legitimate case against him on charges of financial irregularities and loan default.