Mallya case: CBI files charge sheet against Mallya, 9 others

New Delhi, January 24

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday formally filed charges against embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya, a former IDBI chairman and eight others arrested for their suspected involvement in a fraud case related to loans extended to Kingfisher Airlines.

Ten people have been named — former IDBI chairman Yogesh Aggarwal, former Kingfisher Airlines CFO A Raghunathan, IDBI executives OV Bundellu, SKV Srinivasan, RS Sridhar, BK Batra, and Kingfisher executives Shailesh Borke, A C Shah and Amit Nadkarni — in the charge sheet.

A source in the investigation agency claimed that the charge sheet mentions several “commissions and omissions” by IDBI officials while processing Kingfisher Airlines’ request for Rs 1,300 crore.

Investigators claim that the airline “diverted” Rs 260 crore and used Rs 263 crore was used to pay salaries, tax deducted at source, income tax and loan instalments.

Mallya used some part of the loan money for “personal expenses” , the chargesheet claimed.

The source claimed those who have so far been arrested — eight people, Aggarwal included, were arrested on Monday — have been “instrumental” in the suspected fraud.

The agency has sent a request to British Virgin Islands and Singapore for information on money in Kingfisher's accounts in the tax havens.

IDBI has been suspected of having shown "undue favour" to KFA while sanctioning Rs 150 crore in October 2009 and Rs 200 crore in November 2009, and another corporate loan of Rs 750 crore in November 2009.

The development comes days after the Bengaluru Debt Recovery Tribunal on January 19 ordered the SBI-led consortium of banks to start the process of recovering Rs 6,203 crore at an annual interest rate of 11.5 per cent from the embattled tycoon and his companies in the Kingfisher Airlines case.

Once dubbed the ‘King of Good Times’, Mallya, a Parliamentarian, left the country on March 2, leaving behind some 17 banks to struggle to bring get back unpaid loans pending since his airlines, Kingfisher Airlines, folded up in 2012. 

He is currently in the United Kingdom.

A court issued a non-bailable warrant against the businessmen for the bank fraud on April 18. 

Mallya is a proclaimed offender — Agencies