Adhering to its earlier stance, the CBI on Thursday said that they will continue with the ‘inform’ Lookout Circular (LOC) against Vijay Mallya. They ‘know what they need to know’ about the liquor baron, the agency claims. An LOC was issued against Mallya on 16 October, which was revised in November from ‘detention’ status to ‘inform’.
According to the CBI, a total of 5 lakh financial transactions were made by Mallya using the Rs 7,000-crore loan taken from the consortium of 17 PSU banks. Out of these 5 lakh financial transactions, 3 lakh were made to four different countries. The agency is gathering all documents related to the transactions made abroad. It will soon send Letters Rogatory (LR) to these countries seeking more information.
Recently, the CBI expanded the investigation from Rs 900 crore default from IDBI Bank to the other PSU banks which had lent to Mallya. It did so because while investigating the IDBI Bank default case, the agency found that the financial transactions made by Mallya and his company were interconnected.
Mallya Denied All Allegations Earlier
Mallya was interrogated thrice by the CBI in December 2015. During the interrogations, Mallya denied all allegations . But the agency says that funds were allegedly diverted by Mallya and they are likely to charge him with ‘cheating’. Sources in the CBI claim that they have ample evidence to prove that funds were diverted.
But it will continue to be a challenge for the CBI to question Mallya. Questions are being raised on whether he will come back to India. Mallya has already sought more time from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for appearing before investigators. Mallya was summoned by the ED on 18 March.
The CBI registered the FIR in the Mallya bank fraud case in July 2015. It took seven months for the agency to realise the need to expand its investigation to include all the 17 PSU banks.
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