The Central Bureau of Investigation has alleged in a supplementary chargesheet that fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya was acquiring personal assets before fleeing India even as the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines was facing a financial crisis, The Indian Express reported on Thursday.
The supplementary chargesheet was filed on May 5, 2022, but a CBI court took cognisance of it this month.
Mallya had fled the country in March 2016 and has been living in the United Kingdom since. The Indian government is seeking to extradite him so that can be tried for charges of fraud and money laundering.
The fugitive businessman owes over Rs 9,000 crore in debts of his Kingfisher Airlines to a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India.
In the chargesheet, the CBI alleged that in 2008, when Kingfisher Airlines was facing a “severe cash crunch” and banks were yet to recover loans Mallya and his company had defaulted on, he had bought real estate in France for 35 million euros and was going to make a payment of 8 million euros through one of his firms, Gizmo Holdings, the Mint reported.
The chargesheet claimed that Mallya had adequate funds with him between 2008 and 2016-’17 but he did not use it to “honour his obligations as a personal guarantor” for the loans taken by Kingfisher Airlines from IDBI and other banks in India.
Citing evidence collected from Letters Rogatory (letters of request sent to foreign courts), the chargesheet said that sizable amounts were transferred to Force India Formula 1 Team between 2008 and 2012.
The chargesheet said that significant amounts were diverted from 2007 to 2012-’13 and used to make payments for acquiring and repaying loans for the corporate jet used by Mallya.
The CBI also named Buddhadev Dasgupta, the former general manager of IDBI Bank, in the supplementary chargesheet, reported NDTV. A total of 12 accused persons have now been accused in the case.
The central agency alleged that Dasgupta abused his official position by conspiring with the IDBI Bank officials and Vijay Mallya to sanction and disburse a short-term loan of Rs 150 crore in October 2009.
Besides the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate is investigating the money laundering aspect in the case against Mallya.
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