The Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT) has ruled against Vijay Mallya in the money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against him.
The DRT has ruled that Mallya cannot withdraw the $75 million he received from Diageo to quit the liquor business, until the case is disposed of. The tribunal has set the next hearing of the case for 28 March.
The ED had registered a money laundering case against him and others in connection with an alleged default of over Rs 900 crore loan from IDBI bank.
Official sources said, the agency recently filed charges under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) based on an FIR registered last year by the CBI in the same case.
They said while the ED’s zonal office has registered the case in Mumbai, sleuths are also looking at the overall financial structure of the now defunct Kingfisher airlines and a separate probe under foreign exchange violation charges could also be initiated.
Mallya and others will soon be questioned. The agency has collected relevant documents from concerned authorities and the bank in question.Official, Enforcement Directorate
The ED pressed charges under various sections of the PMLA against Mallya and others named in the CBI complaint.
The CBI had booked Mallya, Director of Kingfisher Airlines, the company, A Raghunathan, Chief Financial Officer of the airlines, and unknown officials of IDBI Bank in its FIR, alleging that the loan was sanctioned in violation of norms regarding credit limits.
While a Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT) order is expected in this case on Monday, ex-Kingfisher airlines employees have also gone public against Mallya and the company alleging they have been cheated of their remuneration and service benefits.
Mallya said he was making efforts to reach a ‘one-time settlement’ with banks through additional payments to the lenders, even as he denied “personally” being a “borrower or judgement defaulter” and alleged that “disinformation campaign” was being played to make him a “poster boy” of all bad loans.
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