Fooling Everyone: Vijay Mallya Allegedly Transferred Rs 4,000 Crore To Tax Havens

News Source: gg2

A couple of days back CBI searched the premises of liquor baron Vijay Mallaya and chief financial officer of the defunct Kingfisher Airlines for an alleged default of 900 crore loan in conspiracy with IDBI officials. The CBI has alleged that the loan was sanctioned in violation of norms regarding credit limits.

The consortium of 17 banks had an outstanding exposure of over Rs 7,000 crore payable by Kingfisher.

Kingfisher Airlines had allegedly diverted Rs 4,000 crore loans from public banks to tax havens. The materials that were recovered during the searches clearly indicated that the defunct airlines which stopped flights in October 2012, has diverted a portion of loan taken from 11 nationalised banks, with a total exposure of Rs 4,000 crore, to tax haven countries for different purposes not specified in loan applications.

CBI which has expanded the probe claimed that the agency will be expanding the ambit of the probe from RRs 900 crore from IDBI bank to loans received from 10 other public sector banks. The probe will also cover additional exposure of Rs 3,000 crore to the company as well the allegations of diverting the loan for specified purposes to tax havens for different purposes.

The 10 banks that have come under the scanner of CBI besides IDBI, are UCO bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of India, Vijaya Bank, Bank of Baroda, Corporation Bank, Bank of India, United Bank of India, State Bank of Mysore and Indian Overseas Bank.

The banks are supposed to explain reasons for extending the loan to the airlines, ignoring its own internal report which has warned against such a move.
On Saturday searches were carried out at Mallaya’s office and residence in Bengaluru and a case of corruption was registered against Mallya and the chief financial officer of the non-functional airlines A Raghunathan.