(Bloomberg) -- Fugitive Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya will face a second wave of criminal charges connected to money laundering in India, his lawyer said at a London hearing without giving any details.
"They can present whatever they want, we will respond," Mallya said to reporters in regard to the new charges after a short hearing that fixed a two-week extradition trial to start Dec. 4.
The 61-year-old was arrested in London April 18 on a warrant issued by Indian authorities accusing him of conspiring to defraud India's IDBI Bank through a 91 billion-rupee ($1.4 billion) loan to Kingfisher Airlines Ltd. -- a premium airline he founded in 2005 and shut down seven years later. He was released on 650,000-pound ($840,000) bail and ordered to surrender his passport.
"Dr. Mallya wishes to engage as constructively as possible with these proceedings," Ben Watson, his lawyer, said in London Thursday.
Mallya left India a year ago, saying he was moving to England to be closer to his children. He has since refused to return to India and said he fears an unfair trial amid the “media frenzy and hysteria” over unpaid dues. Mallya has also said government agencies are pursuing a "heavily biased investigation" and holding him guilty without trial.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jeremy Hodges in London at jhodges17@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net, Christopher Elser
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