AMN / MUMBAI
A special court in Mumbai today declared absconding liquor baron Vijay Mallya a fugitive economic offender (FEO) on a plea of the Enforcement Directorate.
Mallya has become the first businessman to be declared an FEO under the provisions of the new Fugitive Economic Offenders Act which came into existence in August last year.
The ED had requested the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court that Mallya, who is currently in the UK, be declared a fugitive and his properties be confiscated and brought under the control of the Union government as per the provisions of the new FEO Act.
Special judge MS Azmi declared Mallya an FEO under Section 12 of the Act after hearing extensive arguments from the lawyer of Mallya and the ED counsel.
Mallya, accused of defaulting on loan repayments and money laundering, had left India in March 2016.
Mallya left India in March 2016 owing more than $1 billion after defaulting on loan payments to state-owned banks and allegedly misusing the funds. The loans from the state-owned IDBI bank were intended to bail out his failed carrier Kingfisher Airlines.
Mallya said in July that he had made an “unconditional offer” to an Indian court in a bid to settle the charges, but denies that was an admission of guilt.
“I cannot understand how my extradition decision… and my settlement offer are linked in any way,” he had tweeted on December 10.
“Wherever I am physically, my appeal is ‘please take the money’. I want to stop the narrative that I stole money,” he added.
Known for his lavish lifestyle, Mallya made Kingfisher beer a global brand. He stepped down as the director of the IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2017.
His financial dealings are being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate.
Mallya was once known as the “King of Good Times” but dropped off India’s most wealthy list in 2014, engulfed by Kingfisher Airlines’ massive debts.
He has been living in a sprawling $15 million mansion in southeast England but has denied absconding.