ED eyes fugitive tag for Vijay Mallya

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday moved a special court to declare liquor baron Vijay Mallya as ‘fugitive offender’ and confiscate his assets worth Rs 12,500 crore under new legislation.

According to sources, the agency filed an application before a special court in Mumbai under the recently promulgated Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance, that empowers it to confiscate “all linked assets” of an absconding loan defaulter.

The agency in its application has sought permission from the court to confiscate all the properties of Mr Mallya including those properties indirectly controlled by him, they added.

The application said that the estimated value of properties proposed for confiscation is to the tune of Rs 12,500 crore approximately, which includes immovable properties as well as movable properties in form of shares, sources said. The action has been taken in pursuance of two bank loan money laundering cases of over Rs 9,000 crore involving the IDBI bank and a SBI-led consortium and these became predicate offences for the latest action under the Ordinance brought by the Modi government early this year.

The ED, in the application, furnished evidences that it filed as part of its two charge sheets against Mallya and others under PMLA and stated that in both cases, non-bailable warrants have been issued against Mallya by  the court.