Vijay Mallya, the flamboyant liquor baron turned fugitive who escaped to the United Kingdom in 2016, has asked the Modi government to take his money unconditionally and close cases against him.
After the government announced 20 lakh crore rupees package to support the Coronavirus hit economy, Mallya tweeted that he is willing to make a small contribution to revenues, and would like to payback all the money.
“Congratulations to the Government for a Covid 19 relief package. They can print as much currency as they want BUT should a small contributor like me who offers 100% payback of State owned Bank loans be constantly ignored ? Please take my money unconditionally and close,” tweeted Mallya.
Congratulations to the Government for a Covid 19 relief package. They can print as much currency as they want BUT should a small contributor like me who offers 100% payback of State owned Bank loans be constantly ignored ? Please take my money unconditionally and close.
— Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) May 14, 2020
Mallya is facing cases against Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and has been declared a ‘fugitive’ by Indian court. The Indian investigation agencies- CBI and Enforcement Directorate- are fighting a case in UK courts for his extradition.
The noose is tightening over Vijay Mallya as the business tycoon turned fraudster lost his appeal in the London High Court. The London High Court said Mallya defrauded, “in the order of (a) INR 1500 million on October 7, 2009, (b) INR 2000 Million on November 4, 2009, and (c) INR 7500 million on November 27, 2009, with the intention not to repay the said loans as agreed and required.” The judges ruled, “We have held there is a prima facie case both of misrepresentation and of conspiracy, and thus there is also a prima facie case of money laundering.”
Mallya was appealing against a 2018 lower court decision to extradite him to India to face trial on the allegations of defrauding Indian banks of over Rs 9,000 crore.
Now he has appealed in UK Supreme Court and in all probability he is going to lose the appeal as soon as the courts start proceeding and would be extradited to India. Mallya knows well that he would lose the case in UK Supreme Court and would be extradited very soon to India under UK-India extradition treaty and would face trail under Indian law. Therefore he is now desperate to pay back all the money to public sector banks, which are waiting for him since the last few years.
Mallya had escaped to the United Kingdom in 2016 and since then the CBI and ED have been aggressively looking to bring him back to India. In 2018, a lower court had ordered Mallya to be extradited post which the fugitive appealed in the London High Court.
This is not the first time Mallya has offered to pay whole debt owed to Indian banks; since February last year, when the investigation agencies attached his properties after the passing of Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, he has repeatedly said on public forums that he is willing to pay back.
But Mallya does want to face the cases under Indian law, as it would, in all probability, land him up in jail. The 64 year old ex-billionaire does not want to rot in Indian jails for rest of his life.