Indian Tycoon arrested and granted bail

 

Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya has been arrested in London, by the Metropolitan Police’s extradition unit on behalf of Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud. India has been pushing for the extradition of Mallya, who face charges of financial irregularities at his defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

Mallya was later granted bail.

Last month, the British Government had certified India’s request for extradition and sent it to a district judge for further action. The extradition process includes a decision by the judge whether to issue a warrant for arrest, and the person arrested and brought before the court for preliminary hearing followed by an extradition hearing before a final decision is taken by the secretary of state.

He is said to owe bank £900m but denies wrongdoing.  He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court later on Tuesday. He made his fortune by selling beer under the Kingfisher brand before branching out into aviation and Formula 1 racing. He is the co-owner of F1 team Force India and also owns Indian Premier League cricket franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore. Kingfisher airlines were grounded in 2012, and its flying permit lapsed the following year, as it made annual losses for five years in a row and finally collapsed after lenders refused to give fresh loans. In March 2016, Mr Mallya was blocked from receiving $75m severance pay from British drinks giant Diageo. In April 2016, India revoked Mr Mallya’s passport, following by seeking his extradition from the UK.

Mallya arrived in Britain in March 2016, after being pursued in courts by banks seeking to recover £977m owed by his Kingfisher Airline. Despite several injunctions, he has to date failed to appear before investigators at the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

India’s Enforcement Directorate, now investigating the liquor baron’s debts totalling  94 billion Rupees (£977m) asked a New Delhi court last year to demand Mallya’s presence during proceedings.