Beleaguered Indian industrialist Vijay Mallya, who’s facing extradition from the U.K. on charges of fraud and money laundering, asked the finance minister to consider his offer to repay 100% of the money he borrowed from banks for his erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines.
“I wish the FM would listen in this time of crisis,” Mallya tweeted at about 6 am in the morning, alluding to the fact that the government would need all available funds at its disposal to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I have made repeated offers to pay 100 % of the amount borrowed by KFA [Kingfisher Airlines] to the banks. Neither are banks willing to take money and neither is the ED [Enforcement Directorate] willing to release their attachments which they did at the behest of the banks,” said Mallya.
He also tweeted that all his companies have ceased operations following the lockdown and sought the help of the government. “All manufacturing is closed as well. Yet we are not sending employees home and paying the idle cost. Government has to help.”
Early last year, the Debt Recovery Tribunal had attached the personal assets of Mallya and that of his UB Group, which was to the tune ₹14,000 crore. But the assets haven’t been liquidated and Mallya has been tweeting about this.
On March 31, Mallya had tweeted: “Saw PM Modi’s interview in which he takes my name and says that even though I owe ₹9,000 crore to banks, his government has attached my assets worth ₹14,000 crore. So the highest authority has confirmed full recovery. Why do BJP spokesmen continue their rhetoric?”
A fortnight later he tweeted: “Whilst media love sensational headlines, why doesn’t anybody ask the PSU State Bank of India under RTI on how much they are spending on legal fees trying to recover money from me in the U.K. when I have offered 100% payback in India.”
The former liquor baron is currently on bail since his arrest in London on an extradition warrant in April 2017. He has challenged his extradition from the U.K., in that country’s Royal Courts of Justice.
