CBI raids industrialist Vijay Mallya’s residence, office

Kingfisher Airlines Ltd. and its owner Vijay Mallya in connection with alleged default on a 9 billion-rupee ($139 million) loan from IDBI Bank Ltd. The searches were conducted at three places in Mumbai and one each in Bengaluru and Goa.

“The Central Bureau Of Investigation has registered a case U/s 120-B r/w 409 of IPC and Section 13(2) r/w 13 (1) (d) of PC Act, 1988 & substantive offences thereof against then Director of Mumbai based Airlines; his said Company; then CFO of said Private Company and other unknown officials of IDBI Bank”. Despite the warning, the Bank went ahead and extended the loan to the Airline.

Last month, India’s monetary fraud investigating agencysought info from United Spirits in reference to a probe into Kingfisher Airlines over alleged diversion of funds, CNBC TV18 had reported.

In an official statement, CBI spokesperson said: “A case has been registered against Vijay Mallya”.

There was no need, according to bank take the exposure outside the consortium.

A consortium of 17-state-owned financial lenders led by SBI was formed to recover the money from the airline company. It lost its operator’s licence on October 20, 2012.

CBI sources said the agency had registered a preliminary enquiry a year ago after the bank failed to provide convincing answers on reasons to extend the loan to the crisis-ridden airline. But Mallya’s lawyers managed to convince the Calcutta High Court in December that the process of declaring him so was faulty.

CBI had warned IDBI Bank against providing loan to an already debt-ridden airline. Another prime property is Kingfisher House, measuring 17,000 square feet in Mumbai’s suburban Andheri locality.