Mumbai: On the request of Directorate of Enforcement (ED), a property of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya located at 32 Avenue FOCH, France, has been seized by the French authority. The value of the seized asset in France is 1.6 million euros (approx Rs 14 crore). Investigations conducted under Prevention of Money-Laundering Act (PMLA) revealed that a large amount was remitted abroad from the bank account of M/s. Kingfisher Airlines Ltd (KAL). ED initiated investigation under PMLA 2002 based on FIR registered by CBI against M/s Kingfisher Airlines Ltd. (KAL), Vijay Mallya & others on 25 January 2016.
The ED in the statement said it has so far attached assets worth Rs 11,231 crore. A prosecution complaint has been filed against Vijay Mallya, M/s UBHL, M/s KAL, bank officials & Ors. An application was also moved before the designated court to declare accused Vijay Mallya as Fugitive Economic offender.
The latest seizure of Mallya’s assets comes as India fights a legal battle to extradite him from the UK. The founder of now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines is wanted for defaulting on loans worth up to Rs 9,000 crore.
Mallya has been living in the UK since March 2016 and has been fighting his extradition to India. His extradition was ordered by a British court in May but has been delayed by a confidential legal matter initiated in the country, the government told the Supreme Court last month.
Not long ago, Mallya was known as “the King of Good Times”, but his failure to manage Kingfisher Airlines turned has made him to lead a fugitive’s life in the UK.