Double whammy for Vijay Mallya: ED files case, DRT blocks $75 million in Diageo deal

March 8, 2016

Mumbai/New Delhi/Bengaluru, Mar 8: In a double blow to beleaguered business tycoon Vijay Mallya on Monday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Mumbai lodged a money laundering case and the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) in Bengaluru barred British liquor giant Diageo from paying him anything till a case against him was disposed off.

vijaymallyaThe tribunal barred Diageo plc from paying Rs 5.04 billion ($75 million) as a severance package to Mallya who quit the chairmanship of its Indian company, United Spirits Ltd. last month, till the pending case against the liquor baron before it is decided.

"The presiding officer of DRT (R. Benkanahalli) ordered temporary attachment of the severance package amount and directed Diageo not to pay it till our case is finally heard and disposed of," counsel for State Bank of India (SBI) told media persons in Bengaluru.

Reading out the one-page order, Benkanahalli said Mallya shall not temporarily draw the $75 million mentioned in the interlocutory application till the case`s disposal.

"Diageo plc and United Spirits Ltd shall not disburse the amount ($75 million) to Mallya or his nominees or agents till the disposal of the bank`s original application (OA). Amount as sought by the applicant banks stands attached," the order said.

The tribunal also directed all defendants to furnish details of the agreement on or before the next date of hearing (March 28), when it will hear the bank`s three other interlocutory applications, seeking his arrest, impounding of his passport and seizure of his assets.

It also ordered issuing notice on the bank`s application to Diageo office in London through registered post.

A consortium of 17 state-run and private banks led by SBI filed the application on February 26, a day after Diageo signed the deal with Mallya for resigning as chairman and not competing with it in the spirits business worldwide for the next five years for $40 million this year and the balance ($35 million) over the next four years.

According to the SBI counsel, Mallya`s now defunct Kingfisher Airline owes the consortium a whopping Rs.10,000 crore, including compound interest over the remaining combined loans of Rs.7,800 crore borrowed between 2004-12 before it was grounded and shut down subsequently.

In another major blow for Mallya, the ED on Monday registered a money-laundering case against him.

"We have filed a case against Mallya on Monday. The case is specifically based on the case registered by the CBI against him and others in (October) 2015," Assistant Director (Enforcement Directorate) A.K. Rawal said in New Delhi.

Mallya and the top executives of the erstwhile KFA have been booked under Sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), Rawal said.

The measure follows an audit of the Rs 7,200 crore loan that the bank consortium had extended to the airline but was not repaid.

The KFA is alleged to have diverted as much as Rs.4,000 crore of that money to international tax havens like Mauritius and Cayman Islands, which is being probed by the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Other businesses of Mallya were also being scrutinized by the ED under the PMLA, an official, requesting anonymity, told IANS in Mumbai.

It is feared that Mallya might become a fugitive from law by shifting base to a country where it might be difficult to make him face the Indian laws, officials said.

The flamboyant businessman, who recently announced his plans to spend more time with his family in Britain, has refuted all charges against him and taken exception to being labelled as a "wilful defaulter" by some of the lender banks.

Mallya has also denied he was planning to flee the country and said he was ready to cooperate with the lenders and the agencies to settle the debt.

Though the consortium of lenders moved the tribunal in 2013 for recovery of their outstanding loans, Mallya`s dramatic announcement that he would move to London forced the banks to lay first claim on the deal amount and rush to the tribunal for early hearing of its case.

Perceived as the `King of Good Times`, Mallya was recently in the news when some former airlineemployees wrote an open letter, blaming him for the grounding of the airline and damaging the country`s reputation in the aviation industry.

Once reputed as the most glamorous and luxurious private airline in the country, KFA fell into bad days and was grounded in October 2012 after a huge financial mess, including default of bank loans, dues to oil companies, airports and even staff salaries.

Comments

Rikaz
 - 
Tuesday, 8 Mar 2016

No matter what, he should not have stopped paying for his employees...it is their curse...that brought him to this stage....

karan
 - 
Tuesday, 8 Mar 2016

this same SBI bank and other bank need all the document and everything if poor guy have they will not provide even 20,000 of loan, and here mally did wonderful job, dont pay even one rupee to them all this bank eaten poor people's money.

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News Network
January 24,2020

Kochi/Mumbai, Jan 24: Two students who recently returned from China have been kept under medical observation at the Ernakulam Government Medical College here for possible exposure to the coronavirus, an outbreak of which in China has triggered a global health scare.

Reports from Mumbai said two persons there too have been put observation at the civic-run Kasturba Hospital in Chinchpokali, PTI reported.

Health officials said no cases of the deadly infection have been detected.

One of the students being screened in Kerala and both being screen in Mumai have reported symptoms such as cold and fever and has been kept in isolation wards.

The additional district medical officer of Ernakulam, Dr S Sreedevi, said samples of the student’s body fluids would be sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune for tests.

The youngster consulted a doctor at a private hospital and was referred to the Ernakulam hospital in the wake of the virus outbreak in Wuhan city of China.

A stringent screening system has been set up at the Kochi International Airport to screen passengers who have been in the affected province in China. Persons who have been to Wuhan and showing symptoms of cold, cough and fever are being immediately shifted to the Ernakulam hospital.

All quariantine facilities have been put in place there including an isolation ward and a ventilator.

The other person under observation in Kerala is an MBBS student from Kottayam district who recently returned from his college in China. The district medical office said she has no health issues. She was put under observation as a precautionary measure.

In Mumbai, 1,789 passengers have undergone thermal screening at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport for the coronavirus since January 19.

Coronavirus cases were first reported from Wuhan, the capital of central Chinas Hubei province in China.

In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in China, doctors at international airports have been asked to screen travellers for symptoms if they are returning from China. All private doctors have been asked to alert the authorities if they observe symptoms of the coronavirus.

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News Network
April 9,2020

Patna, Apr 9: In a horrifying incident, a migrant woman was sexually abused in a Gaya hospital where she was kept in an isolation ward. Three days later, she died due to excessive bleeding.

The matter came to light on Tuesday when her mother-in-law informed the authorities concerned about the shocking incident.

The 25-year-old victim had returned to Bihar’s Gaya district from Ludhiana (in Punjab) along with her husband on March 25. Before returning to her in-laws’ place, she had undergone abortion at Ludhiana just when she was two months pregnant.

On reaching Gaya, she complained of excessive bleeding. Her husband admitted her to Anugrah Narain Magadh Medical College and Hospital (ANMMCH) on March 27 where she was kept in the emergency ward.

Later, on April 1, on being suspected to be coronavirus patient, she was kept in an isolation ward. Her family members alleged that it was in this isolation ward where a doctor attending to her overnight outraged her modesty for two successive nights on April 2 and 3.

“The following day, she was discharged from the hospital after her coronavirus test report was found to be negative. However, after returning home, she remained aloof and struck by fear. On questioning, she revealed how a doctor had sexually abused her in the isolation ward. On April 6, she passed away due to excessive bleeding,” said her mother-in-law.

On receiving the information, the local police asked the mother-in-law to come to the hospital on Tuesday and identify the doctor (about whom the victim had given a description). However, the accused was not identified.

“Prima facie, the matter is serious. We are verifying the allegations. We will dig out the CCTV footage in the hospital and take strict action after identifying the culprit,” said Dr VK Prasad, the hospital superintendent.

Meanwhile, the Gaya police have arrested two people who posed as doctors and entered the isolation ward using doctors’ kits. One of the apprehended people works in a private.

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News Network
March 29,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 29: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday expressed his concern over the ''non-cooperation from the Karnataka Government in removing the roadblocks erected by them in the roads bordering Malapuram district''.

Addressing a press conference at the Government Secretariat, the Chief Minister said, "Karnataka has not heeded to our request to remove the roadblocks. I have been trying to contact their Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa but not able to reach him."

"We have briefed the Union Minister D V Sadananda Gowda and he has offered to resolve the issue. Our Chief Secretary has also briefed the Central Cabinet Secretary and we expect a resolution soon," he added.

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