Liquor baron Vijay Mallya's palatial island home, that boasts of 17 bedrooms, a helipad and even its own nightclub, has come under the scanner over the businessman's loan defaults, media reports suggest.
One of the banks suing Mallya over unpaid debts has alleged that the former billionaire let it fall into despair. The house, Le Grand Jardin, was bought by Mallya via his company Gizmo Invest SA in 2008 for 27 million Euros, a loan provided by Qatar National Bank's unit Ansbacher & Co. The bank, on Wednesday, 15 January, told a London court that Gizmo has since then defaulted on the loan, an NDTV report said.
The bank is seeking to force Mallya to sell his 50-metre superyacht currently impounded in South England as a 5 million Euros mortgage on the boat will serve as security for the loan, the report said.
The bank's lawyer told the court that by September 2015, when Mallya was also facing a $100 million lawsuit from Diego Plc and $1.2 billion lawsuit from Indian banks, the 1.3-hectare property on French island Ile Sainte Marguerite had fallen into a state of despair.
After a stage of checks by real estate agents, it was found out that the property's value had fallen by 10 million Euros. By January 2018, the work on the property was still incomplete, the bank said.
While the yacht was seized by marine insurer Skuld in January 2018 for non-payment of the crew’s wages, the island home is now listed for sale.
(With inputs from NDTV)
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