A UK court on Tuesday ruled against the fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya in a dispute with Swiss Bank UBS following which he now faces enforced eviction from his multi-million pound luxury home in London. He lives in the London home with his son Siddharth and mother Lalitha, who also face eviction. The luxury home is situated at 18/19 Cornwall Terrace overlooking the Regent’s Park.
Mallya had obtained mortgage on his house in London from UBS. His house is one of the most sought after locations in London. As per reports, he also owns a country home in Hertfordshire in North London and many other properties in UK and elsewhere.
On Tuesday, a sitting judge of Chancery Division of High Court turned down request by the lawyers of Mallya on stay on repayment of UBS loan. Mallya was unable to pay previous repayment in April 2020. However, due to COVID regulations, the UBS was not able to evict Mallya. Now, with Tuesday’s ruling the bank can repossess.
Mallya family trust owned Rose Capital Ventures, which is based out of British Virgin Islands, mortgaged his London property in 2012 to UBS for a 5 year loan of 20.4 million pounds. In 2017, the loan had expired and Mallya was not able to pay the outstanding dues on it.
Mallya fled to London after he was accused in the Rs 9,000 crore fraud which led to the collapse of Kingfisher Airlines. In July 2021, London court declared him bankrupt. Prior to that in May 2020, he had lost the legal battle against his extradition to India. However, he has not yet returned to face trial. Mallya continues to be on bail.
Earlier in December 2021, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had informed that banks have collected roughly Rs 13,109 crore from asset sales of defaulters such as fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, and erstwhile liquor baron Vijay Mallya. The assets were seized by the Enforcement Directorate in accordance with the Anti-Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
