Vijay Mallya was granted bail today after a brief arrest following supplemental money laundering charges brought by the government of India.
This new money laundering charge and the evidence in support has been joined to the original fraud charges against Mallya in the Rs 900-crore IDBI Bank-Kingfisher Airlines bank loan case.
“The new charge is essentially showing where the money went to, for example, it is alleged that some of the funds ended up with the Force India racing team,” the U.K. Crown Prosecution Service told BloombergQuint in an emailed statement.
Essentially, the Indian government has alleged that the funds which Mallya obtained through loans to Kingfisher airlines, were channeled into his Force India Formula 1 team.
Explaining the rationale for Mallya’s second arrest in five months, the CPS statement said, “As the new charge of money laundering effectively joined up with the existing fraud charges, the legal process included re-certification of the extradition request by the Home Office and a rearrest of Mallya.”
Mallya is also undergoing trial and is currently out on bail in another case in which he was arrested in April following the Indian government’s extradition request. That hearing is scheduled for December 4 at Westminster Magistrates’ Court and is estimated to last eight days,” the CPS statement said. India had made an extradition request in February to Britain to send back the businessman to face trial.
