Vijay Mallya laundered money before he left India: ED

Mumbai: Vijay Mallya, who faces extradition proceedings in the United Kingdom, laundered money before he left country on March 2 last year using a diplomatic passport he had held as a Rajya Sabha member, according to a report in The Times of India.

Country's premier anti-money laundering agency Enforcement Directorate that functions under department of revenue of Finance Ministry has shared a dossier with the UK authorities that show how Mallya siphoned off money from Indian banks to shell companies in the UK.

The dossier prepared by the ED was in addition to the documents prepared by the Central Bureau of Investigation that concluded that Mallya was wanted in India for cases related to criminal conspiracy and cheating.

Mallya had taken loans to start and run now grounded Kingfisher Airlines. The total amount that embattled liquor baron owes to a group of 17 banks now stands at Rs 9,000 crore that includes interest money also.

Indian authorities hope that Mallya routing illegal money to shell companies in the UK and banks accounts in country would make a strong case for his extradition in UK court.

According to repprts, founder of Kingfisher Airlines had taken a loan of Rs 900 crore from IDBI Bank. Besides, he took Rs 6,027 crore loan from a group of 17 banks led by largest public sector lender State Bank of India. The total debt on Mallya now stands at Rs 9,000 crore including interest money.