Vijay Mallya, chairman of the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines has sought time till “early April” to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering case against him, officials familiar with the development said. The agency, that is investigating Mallya under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), had directed Mallya to appear in person before it on March 18. According to ED sources, the agency has accepted Mallya’s request seeking an extension but it has not set the new date as yet. “If a person formally asks for extension citing reasons, do you think it won’t be granted,” ED sources said. Mallya who is currently known to be in the UK has come under the scanner of multiple investigating agencies such as the CBI, SFIO and ED. His company Kingfisher Airlines has defaulted on bank loans of over Rs7,000 crore. Kingfisher owes over Rs 9,000 crore to 17 banks in the country. [related-post] The ED has already grilled Ravi Nedungadi, former president and CFO at UB Group and A Raghunathan, former CFO of Kingfisher Airlines in the alleged default of over Rs 900 crore loan from IDBI Bank. On Thursday both Nedungadi and Raghunathan were questioned once again by ED. Apart from Mallya, the ED had also issued summons to over half a dozen officials of IDBI Bank and 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 I-T returns of last five years. The ED has written to 17 banks and a clutch of probe agencies for details on loans defaulted and transactions done by Mallya’s companies. It has also sent official requests seeking details of the probe conducted by the income tax and service tax departments and the SFIO against the airline in the past. According to sources, the agency is also looking into the foreign assets of Mallya, including an offshore trust set up by Mallya’s father late Vittal Mallya in 1982. Meanwhile on Thursday, ED chief Karnal Singh visited the Mumbai office of the agency at Ballard Estate to review the progress of the PMLA case against Mallya and the airlines.
