Vijay Mallya arrested in London by Scotland Yard
Embattled business mogul and loan defaulter Vijay Mallya was arrested by Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant on Tuesday. He will be produced before the Westminster Magistrates’ Court later in the day.
British authorities informed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) about the arrest.
Earlier in February, the government had handed over a formal request for the fugitive industrialist’s extradition to the UK High Commission, saying it had a legitimate case against him in on charges of financial irregularities and loan default.
Mallya fled to Britain in March 2016 after being pursued in courts by banks seeking to recover about Rs 9,000 crore owed by his Kingfisher Airline. Despite multiple injunctions, he has failed to appear before investigators at the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Last week, a Delhi court put out an open-ended non-bailable warrant against the 61-year-old in a case of alleged violation of foreign exchange rules.
The flamboyant entrepreneur left India a year ago amid attempts by a group of banks to recover around Rs. 9,000 in loans to his collapsed Kingfisher Airlines.
New Delhi had cancelled Mallya’s passport and asked the UK government to deport him to India.
Mallya has been charged with cheating and conspiracy by the CBI that filed a 1,000-page chargesheet against him for defaulting on a 900-crore loan taken from the IDBI bank in 2009. The CBI probe found that 250 crore of this – given to buy aircraft parts – was diverted abroad.
