#Bengaluru / #Mumbai : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued summons to Vijay Mallya, ordering him to be present before the agency on March 18, in connection with the Rs 9,000-crore loan default case. The communication was sent to him through an email on Fridayafternoon.A senior ED official told BS that Mallya had been ordered to come up with all the details sought by the probe agency including his income-tax returns proof and the assets he has invested in.
Since morning, ED has also been interrogating A Raghunathan, former chief financial officer (CFO) of the defunct Kingfisher Airlines with respect to Rs 950 crore credit sanctioned by IDBI bank.
“He [Raghunathan] was one the top officials of Kingfisher Airlines, and he was aware about all the financial transactions of the company,” an ED official said, adding that he was summoned by probe agency for his role in loan sanctioning process.
Apart from them, Yogesh Agarwal, the former chairman and managing director of IDBI bank, and a few key bank officials who were part of the credit commmitee, have also been summoned. ED is likely to interrogate Agarwal tommorow.
According to an ED source, “Raghunathan has been asked provide all banking details of Mallya’s companies.”
Incidentally, it was Raghunathan who had asked bank to release short-term loan (STR) at various points of time in 2009. In his communication to the banks, Raghunathan had referred to slew of meetings between Mallya and bank offcials.
ED, which filed a case against Mallya, Kingfisher Airlines and IDBI Bank officials under anti-money laundering laws, is also looking into the “proceeds of crime” under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). According to sources, ED is also investigating whether some of the loan amount was illegally sent overseas.
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