A special PMLA court in Mumbai has today declared liquor tycoon and former Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Mallya as a fugitive economic offender. As per reports, his properties can now be confiscated by the Government of India.
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As per reports, the PMLA court has also refused Mallya’s petition to stay the order so he can get some time for an appeal.
The petition to declare Mallya a fugitive under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act 2018 was submitted by the Enforcement Directorate last month.
As per reports, today’s court order also mentions that the court will decide on the list of assets to be confiscated on a later date.
This is the second major blow to the billionaire liquor tycoon after a court in the UK ordered his extradition to India last month. Mallya had left India in March last month and is wanted by Indian authorities for defaulting on loans taken from a consortium of Indian banks to the tunes of 9000 crores.
After the middleman in the AgustaWestland case, Christian Michel was extradited to India from UAE last month, Mallya had also offered that he is willing to pay back the entire principal amount of the loan.
Mallya is wanted by the CBI and the ED for cases of loan default and money laundering. Mallya has been maintaining that he is ‘willing to pay the money’ but also has been insisting that he is not a defaulter.
Mallya had earlier even claimed that he did not ‘flee’ the country in 2016 but went abroad to ‘attend a meeting’. The Enforcement Directorate rubbished that claim and stated that nobody goes to attend a meeting with 300 bags and cargo in tow.