NEW DELHI: Absconding liquor baron
Vijay Mallya’s asset sales have begun with the
Enforcement Directorate through the debt recovery tribunal disposing of shares of United Breweries (Holding) Ltd worth Rs 1,008 crore on Wednesday.
The 74 lakh shares of United Breweries Ltd (UBL) sold by the agency were held by United Breweries Holding Ltd (UBHL) and were pledged by Mallya to
Yes Bank as security against a loan taken by his defunct
Kingfisher Airlines.
The money realized will help a consortium of government banks led by the SBI to recover loans turned NPAs exceeding more than Rs 9,000 crore. In January this year, a special court in Mumbai had declared Mallya “fugitive” under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act that allows the anti-money laundering agency to confiscate and sell off all his assets with the proceeds going to the central government.
The ED has identified his properties worth over Rs 12,500 crore, including Rs 9,000 crore already attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The agency can now dispose of all these assets to settle his outstanding with the Indian banks where he had defaulted on repayments.
Interestingly, Mallya had repaid the entire loan to the Yes Bank and only “miniscule” amount remained pending. However, before his UBL shares could be released by the bank, the ED attached them.
“In order to secure these shares from alienation by Vijay Mallya and to compel him to return back to country, the ED filed application before the PMLA special court for freezing of these shares and consequently pledged and unpledged shares were attached,” a senior officer said.
Mallya tried to restrain the sale of his UBL shares by moving the special PMLA court in Mumbai. However, the the special court allowed the sale of shares on Tuesday after ED made a submission and in view of the large outstanding debts of the SBI consortium against Kingfisher Airlines.