New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a second charge sheet against Vijay Mallya, the owner of defunct Kingfisher Airlines Limited and United Breweries [Holdings] Ltd, in a money laundering case. The 62-year-old liquor baron is facing a trial in a court in the United Kingdom to decide if he can be extradited to India to face charges for financial irregularities involving a total amount of Rs 9,000 crore.
Earlier the agency had filed a charge sheet under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 against Vijay Mallya, Kingfisher Airlines Limited, and seven others for the criminal offence of money laundering before the Special Court on June 14, 2017.
The charge sheet cited four instances wherein the loan amount to Kingfishers Airlines by a consortium of backs were diverted.
In the first instance, Kingfishers Airlines had acquired a corporate jet to be used for non-scheduled air transport services operations, obtained on the grounds that the same will be used by Mallya and senior employees of UB Group. However, the said jet was mainly used as a personal carrier for Mallya and his family members and friends. To make the payments for this, Rs 45.42 crore was diverted.
In the second instance, Kingfisher Airlines used two aircraft of Veling Narain Ltd on very high lease rental, almost 65 per cent more than those provided by other companies, thus siphoning money to the tune of Rs 3,432.40 crore.
In the third instance, it entered into an agreement with Force India Formula One Team Limited for sponsorship for the purpose of promotion and displaying the brand Kingfisher. Kingfisher Airlines diverted the funds for this.
In the fourth instance, the money was diverted from the airlines account to make payments for Mallya-owned IPL Team Royal Challengers.