Vijay Mallya bought properties worth Rs 330 crore when Kingfisher Airlines was in crisis: CBI
Mumbai (PTI): Beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya bought properties worth Rs 330 crore in England and France during 2015-16 even as his Kingfisher Airlines was facing a cash crunch at that time and banks had not recovered the loans defaulted by the liquor baron, the CBI has claimed in its supplementary chargesheet filed in a court here.
Mallya is an accused in the alleged over Rs 900 crore IDBI Bank-Kingfisher Airlines loan fraud case being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The central agency recently filed a supplementary chargesheet before a special CBI court here.
Along with all the 11 accused named in the earlier chargesheets, the probe agency has added the name of Buddhadev Dasgupta, former general manager of IDBI Bank in its latest supplementary chargesheet.
The probe agency alleged that by abusing his official position, Dasgupta conspired with the officers of IDBI Bank and Vijay Mallya in the matter of sanction and disbursement of the short-term loan (STL) of Rs 150 crore in October 2009.
The said loan of Rs 150 crore as envisaged originally by Dasgupta (by proposal circulated among credit committee members) was to be adjusted/repaid from the aggregate loan of Rs 750 crore originally sought by the airlines.
However, after circulation, there was change in the proposal to show as if the credit committee had treated this as a separate loan, which may (or may not) be adjusted/recovered from the aggregate loan.
The chargesheet said the exposure of IDBI Bank was to be restricted to the aggregate amount of Rs 750 crore, but it became Rs 900 crore in December 2009 because the STL of Rs 150 crore was kept as a separate loan, largely at the behest of Dasgupta.
During the course of investigation, letters rogatory (LRs) had been sent to the United Kingdom, Mauritius, the USA and Switzerland as per the permission of the CBI court.
Courts of one country seek the assistance of the courts in another for the administration of justice there through letters rogatory. The chargesheet mentioned the evidence collected during foreign investigation from these countries.
"The properties in the UK (Ladywalk in 2015-16 for GBP 12-13 million or Rs 80 crore) and France ('Le Grand Jardin' in 2008 for Euro 35 million or Rs 250 crore approximately) were acquired by Mallya even as Kingfisher Airlines was facing severe a cash crunch (2008) and the lenders were yet to recover the loans defaulted upon by Mallya and the Airlines (2015-16)," it said.
The chargesheet claimed that Mallya had adequate funds at his disposal between 2008 and 2016-17, but none of it was brought to support the airlines as equity infusion or to honour his obligations as a personal guarantor for the loans availed by KAL from IDBI and other banks in India.
The chargesheet, citing the evidence collected through LRs, said that sizable amounts were transferred to Force India Formula 1 Team between 2008 and 2012, it said.
The chargesheet further said that significant amounts were diverted from 2007 to 2012-13 and used to make payments towards acquisition and repayment of loan for the corporate jet used personally by Mallya.
Besides the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also probing a money laundering case against Mallya.
On January 5, 2019, a special court in Mumbai had declared Mallya a 'fugitive'.
Under the provisions of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, once a person is declared a fugitive economic offender, the prosecuting agency has the powers to confiscate his property.
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IAF to hold 2-day wargame along frontier with Pakistan: NOTAM issued
New Delhi, May 6 (PTI): The Indian Air Force will carry out a two-day mega military exercise along the border with Pakistan from Wednesday that will involve all the frontline fighter jets including Rafale, Su-30 and Jaguar aircraft, sources in the defence establishment said on Tuesday.
The exercise is taking place amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan over the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people.
India's civil aviation authorities have already issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) for the major air exercise that will largely take place along the southern and western section of the Indo-Pakistan border.
India's frontline fighter jets including the Rafale, Su-30 MKI, MiG-29, Mirage-2000, Tejas and AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) aircraft are set to feature in the exercise, the sources said.
In the course of the exercise, the IAF will simulate enemy targets on ground and in the air with deadly precision, they said.
The militaries of both India and Pakistan are on a high alert following rising tensions between the two nations.
Soon after the Pahalgam terror attack, India, citing "cross-border linkages" to the strike, promised severe punishment to those involved in it.
In a high-level meeting with the top defence brass on April 29, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the armed forces have "complete operational freedom" to decide on the mode, targets and timing of India's response to the terror attack.
Air Chief Marshal A P Singh met Prime Minister Modi on Sunday and the Chief of Air Staff briefed him about the IAF's operational readiness.
On Saturday, Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi apprised the prime minister on the overall situation in the critical sea lanes in the Arabian Sea.
