The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today attached properties of the liquor baron Vijay Mallya, worth Rs 1,411 crore, in the IDBI Bank loan default case.
"We have attached properties worth Rs 1,411 crore (as per the market value) of Vijay Mallya and UB limited under the Prevention of Money laundering Act," said an ED official.
The assets under "provisional attachment" included bank balance of Rs 34 crore, a flat each in Bengaluru and Mumbai (2,291 sqft and 1,300 sqft respectively), an industrial plot in Chennai (4.5 acres), a coffee plantation land in Coorg (28.75 acres) and residential and commercial constructed areas in UB CITY and Kingfisher Tower in Bengaluru (84,0279 sqft).
The attachment of properties is in connection with the Rs 900 crore loan fraud with the IDBI Bank.
Mallya, whose defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, left India on March 2.
The agency registered a money laundering case against him and others based on an FIR registered last year by the CBI.
It is also investigating financial structure of the Kingfisher Airlines and possible payment of kickbacks to secure loans.
It has also moved the special court here seeking to declare Mallya a proclaimed offender as the agency has virtually exhausted all legal remedies like seeking an Interpol arrest warrant and getting his passport revoked.
The ED is also seeking to invoke the India-United Kingdom Mutual legal Assistance Treaty (MlAT) to have him extradited from Britain.
ED added "it emerged during the investigation that from
very beginning KFA defaulted in repayment of loan thereby putting IDBI bank to a wrongful loss."
The agency is also investigating financial structure of Kingfisher Airlines and possible payment of kickbacks to secure loans.
The agency said the acts of Mallya and others accused in this case "indicate that a criminal conspiracy" was hatched for sanctioning the bank loan and that there was "no intent" to pay back the loan amount.
ED added that a sum of about Rs 423 crore from this loan amount was "remitted" outside the country on the pretext of aircraft lease rentals but "no supporting documents have been furnished so far to substantiate their bonafides."
"Therefore, not only the said bank loan was obtained in questionable manner, but part of the loan has been siphoned off abroad in a calculated and pre designed manner," it said.
The agency reiterated in the statement that despite giving "numerous opportunities" Mallya did not appear before it to record his statement in the case.
ED has also moved a special court here yesterday seeking to declare Mallya a proclaimed offender as the agency has virtually exhausted all legal remedies like seeking an Interpol arrest warrant and getting his passport revoked.
The ED is also seeking to invoke the India-United Kingdom Mutual legal Assistance Treaty (MlAT) to have him extradited from Britain.