Vijay Mallya and the lingering end of his good times

Moneycontrol News

Liquor baron Vijay Mallya was arrested on Tuesday in London after Enforcement Directorate filed a fresh affidavit under the prevention of money-laundering act. He was soon released on bail.

Mallya, whose defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes over Rs 9,000 crore to different banks in India, fled to Britain in March last year.

This is Mallya’s second arrest this year after he was taken in by the Scotland Yard on April 18 on an extradition warrant. Early in February, India had requested Britain to extradite Mallya who has been wanted by various investigative agencies for loan default and other financial irregularities.

Here is a brief profile of the once celebrated billionaire:

1) Vijay Mallya was born in 1955 as a son of entrepreneur Vittal Mallya who was the Chairman of United Breweries Group.

2) He completed his Bachelors in Commerce from the University of Calcutta and later interned with Hoechst. He also has an honorary Doctorate degree in Business Administration awarded by the University of Southern California.

3) Soon after the demise of his father, he assumed the position of Chairman of UB Group. At that time UB sold about 2.85 million cases of liquor per year. Today, the group sells 120 million cases a year.

4) Over time, Mallya sold loss-making companies and bought a few like Berger Paints, Malabar Chemicals and Fertilizers, The Asian Age, Best and Crompton.

Also Read: Vijay Mallya arrested in London again this year: What has happened so far? A timeline

5) However, all his sales and purchases were overshadowed when he ventured into the airline industry in 2005 with Kingfisher Airlines. In 2007, he purchased Air Deccan to fly on international routes.

6) Within a few years, the flamboyant airline was shut down with a debt of over Rs 7,000 crore and losses amounting to Rs 6,600 crore. The airline did not pay its employees’ pending salaried of 15 months. Thus, began the decline of its owner.

7) For many years, Mallya featured among the Forbes India’s richest list and was recently removed and termed as Former Billionaire.

8) He was also a two-time MP from Karnataka in Rajya Sabha. He resigned from his office in 2016 shortly before fleeing to the UK.

9) Currently, he is wanted in a Rs 9,000 crore claim made by a group of Indian Banks led by State Bank of India. The Enforcement Directorate has attached properties owned by him in India and it is trying to do the same abroad.

10) The authorities are also seeking an Interpol arrest warrant and making efforts to extradite him from the UK.