The man who launched the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines (Mumbai International) has been charged by the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Authorities have charged Vijay Mallya with criminal conspiracy and corruption and are now hoping to extradite him from the United Kingdom.
Mallya launched Kingfisher in 2005, and it offered domestic and international flights until its financial collapse in 2014. CBI's charges relate to the extension of a USD134 million loan from state-owned IDBI bank to Kingfisher which, at the time, did not meet the bank's approval criteria. The former chair of IDBI, Yogesh Aggarwal, has been arrested in connection with the case, along with eight other bank executives.
In a separate case, Mallya has been banned by the Indian regulator Sebi from the securities market due to an investigation into another of his companies, United Spirits Ltd.
Mallya, who has been in the UK since early 2016, responded angrily on Twitter. "I am kind of getting used to these witch hunts coming from all directions with no legal basis whatsoever. Shows what Govt Machinery can do."
The CBI will now apply to the United Kingdom to have Mallya extradited to face trial in India.
