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ED seizes Vijay Mallya’s property in France worth Rs 14 crore

Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and four promoters/directors of Gujarat-based Sterling Biotech company have been declared fugitive economic offenders
Last Updated 04 December 2020, 16:06 IST

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday said it has attached businessman Vijay Mallya's property worth 1.6 million Euro (Rs 14 crore) in France under the anti-money laundering law.

The French authorities undertook the action "on the request" of the ED on the property located at 32 Avenue FOCH.

An ED statement said, "investigations conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act revealed that "a large amount was remitted abroad from the bank account of Kingfisher Airlines Ltd (KAL)".

The agency had initiated a money laundering probe based on a CBI FIR against the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines, Mallya and others on 25 January, 2016.

So far, the ED has attached properties worth Rs 11,231.70 crore, which was the value at the time of attachment.

The ED has also managed to declare Mallya as a fugitive economic offender in January last year with a Mumbai court acceding to its plea.

The 64-year-old liquor baron, who also owned the Kingfisher Airlines, was accused of over Rs 9,000 crore loan fraud and is presently in the United Kingdom. His leaving India in March 2016 had triggered a controversy.

Presently, he is on bail on an extradition warrant, which was executed by Scotland Yard on 18 April, 2017. The West Minister's Magistrates Court had ruled in favour of his extradition in December 2018.

"In its order, the court has observed that a clear evidence of dispersal and misapplication of the loan funds and prima facie, found that accused Vijay Mallya was involved in conspiracy to launder money. Appeals of Vijay Mallya to the UK High Court and later Supreme Court have been rejected," the ED statement said.

However, he is yet to be extradited as India will have to wait till a separate secret legal process in the UK, which is judicial and confidential in nature, is resolved.

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(Published 04 December 2020, 13:06 IST)

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