Shillong, March 23: In a supplemental charge-sheet submitted to a Mumbai court, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said that billionaire Vijay Mallya had the money to pay bank loans before fleeing the country but chose to spend that money to purchase properties abroad.
Vijay Mallya purchased homes in London and France worth Rs 330 crore between 2015–16, according to the CBI’s supplemental charge-sheet, despite the fact that his Kingfisher Airlines was in financial trouble. According to the CBI charge-sheet, banks were unable to recoup the loans that the liquor baron had at the time of default.
In the alleged over Rs 900 crore IDBI Bank-Kingfisher Airlines loan fraud case, which the CBI is investigating, Vijay Mallya is one of the accused. The CBI filed a supplemental charge-sheet before a special CBI court in Mumbai.
Along with the 11 accused included in the original charge-sheet, the name of former IDBI Bank general manager Buddhadev Dasgupta was added in the additional charge-sheet.
The CBI claimed that former IDBI GM Buddhadev Dasgupta colluded with Vijay Mallya and bank officers to issue and disburse a short-term loan (STL) of Rs 150 crore in October 2009 by abusing his official position.
The original loan amount of Rs 150 crore as envisaged originally by Dasgupta was to be reduced or reimbursed from the total loan amount of Rs 750 crore that the airlines had originally requested.
The proposal was altered following distribution to reflect that the credit committee had considered this as a separate loan that could (or might not) be amended or recovered from the total loan, according to the CBI charge-sheet.
The charge-sheet stated that IDBI Bank’s exposure was to be limited to an overall sum of Rs 750 crore, but in December 2009, it increased to Rs 900 crore due to the STL of Rs 150 crore being held as a separate loan, partly at Dasgupta’s request.
