19 April 2016 10:33 am
NDTV: An arrest warrant has been issued against Vijay Mallya, who has refuted allegations that he siphoned nearly half of a 900-crore loan to his Kingfisher Airlines, to buy property abroad. A special court in Mumbai has issued a non-bailable warrant against the liquor baron. The court is hearing cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against Mallya, who flew to London in March, and has so far refused to present himself in Mumbai for interrogation in connection with a loan given to him in 2009 by state-run IDBI.
His United Breweries Group has told a court in Mumbai that the Enforcement Directorate has its facts wrong and that the money spent abroad was for legitimate business purposes and that it will provide full details in the coming days. In total, Mallya’s Kingfsiher Airlines, defunct since 2012, owes nearly 9,000 crores to different banks which have said that he must meet them in person to negotiate how he will pay them back. Mallya has so far made a series of offers to them via video-conference, which have been rejected.