“USL has already written off the amounts owed by Mallya group companies”.
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Making it clear that the settlement reached earlier with Mallya would not cover the latest disclosures that came to light after an “Additional Inquiry”, United Spirits – now controlled by global liquor giant Diageo – said the former Chairman would be liable for claims over the amount. The inquiry also covered some agreements allegedly entered into by United Spirits with a Kingfisher Airlines creditor and certain claims made by United Spirits debtors, some of whom later refused to repay the company.
Last month the Enforcement Directorate had attached assets worth Rs 1,411 crore belonging to Mallya and one of his companies in connection with its money laundering probe in the the alleged IDBI bank loan default case.
Under the “sweetheart deal”, he was promised an over Rs 500-crore payout to leave the company and was also absolved of any “personal liability” at that time.
The internal inquiry revealed actual and potential diversions of about 9.1 billion rupees ($135.5 million) and other potentially improper transactions amounting to about 3.1 billion rupees involving USL and its subsidiaries between October 2010 and July 2014, the company said in a filing to stock exchanges after a board meeting on July 9.
In a separate inquiry, the USL, in its filing said funds were diverted from USL to UB Group companies, including Kingfisher Airlines.
As per USL’s statement, its Board yesterday discussed findings of the “additional inquiry” it had ordered to plug gaps found in an initial probe launched in April 2015 that showed improprieties in loans worth Rs 1,337 crore given by USL to the entities linked to Mallya.
Mutual agreement: Diageo had inserted into a mutual relief deal with Vijay Mallya to give him $75 million over a five-year period time.
According to USL, Force India Formula One, Watson Ltd, Continental Administrative Services, Modall Securities Ltd, Ultra Dynamics Ltd and Lombard Wall Corporate Service Inc were some of the beneficiaries of the diverted funds.
The Indian beneficiary was mostly Kingfisher Airlines.
However, it has passed the findings of its forensic investigation to the financial authorities and the USL board says it will seek recovery of the £151m from the companies and individuals concerned and “undertake any action including legal and regulatory as deemed necessary”.
In a major setback for Vijay Mallya, who has been declared a proclaimed offender in a money laundering case, the Patiala House Court on Saturday lifted the exemption granted to him from personal appearance in a case of evading summons in a Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) issue.
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Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sumit Dass allowed the ED plea seeking recall of a court order granting permanent exemption from appearance to Mallya, who is in the United Kingdom and also faces money laundering charges in India.
