Enforcement Directorate grills duo in Vijay Mallya case for second day

Information that will be helpful in the Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s investigation into the money laundering probe in the alleged default of over Rs 900-crore loan from IDBI bank was revealed during the interrogation spread over two days of Ravi Nedungadi, former chief financial officer (CFO) of United Breweries and a close aide of Vijay Mallya, as well as A Raghunathan, former CFO of Kingfisher Airlines, sources said.

Nedungadi and Raghunathan were interrogated for a total of more than eight hours on Friday and Saturday.

“ED officials today have taken statements of the two former executives. They were co-operative and some points were revealed in their interrogation,” sources said.

The ED on Thursday summoned Mallya, owner of the Kingfisher Airlines, in connection with a money laundering case registered by ED officials in connection with the Rs 900-crore loan taken by Mr Mallya from IDBI bank. The ED has asked Mallya to appear before it on March 18.

The ED had issued summons to over half a dozen officials of the IDBI bank and Vijay Mallya-owned KFA under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) wherein all the individuals have been asked to submit details about their personal finances and Income Tax Returns (ITRs) of last five years to the investigators.

Apart from Raghunathan, summons have also been issued to former chairman and managing director of the bank Yogesh Agarwal and other senior executive members and officials of both the organisations. Officials had earlier indicated that the agency would question some important functionaries of the bank and the airlines before they decide on issuing summons to the main player and liquor baron Mallya in the case.

The ED had recently registered a money laundering case against Mallya and others based on a CBI FIR registered last year.

The agency is also investigating the overall financial structure of Kingfisher Airlines and if any possible kickbacks were made. The ED has pressed charges under various sections of the PMLA against Mallya and others named in the CBI complaint.

The CBI had booked Mallya, Raghunathan and unknown officials of IDBI Bank in its FIR, alleging that the loan was sanctioned in violation of norms regarding credit limits.

The ED is looking into the “proceeds of crime” that would have been generated using the slush funds of the alleged loan fraud and it is also probing if some of this amount was sent abroad illegally, they said.

The Attorney General has informed the Supreme Court that Mallya has left the country on March 2.