Erstwhile liquor baron Vijay Mallya was arrested and released on bail in London on charges relating to the Enforcement Directorate’s money laundering case against him.
Appearing in court in a dark blue jacket on Tuesday afternoon, Mallya spoke twice, first to confirm his name and personal details, and then to respond with a “no” to a question of whether he consented to his extradition. Mallya has been battling the Indian government’s attempts to extradite him to India to face charges relating to fraud and money laundering. Ahead of the hearing, Mallya said he had “done nothing wrong” and described the allegations he was facing as “fabricated”.
Speaking for the Crown Prosecution Service, which is pursuing the case on behalf of the Indian government, barrister Mark Summers said the supplemental money laundering charges were made in India on June 14, which, though compendious charges, would be broken into different charges by the CPS. He said the allegations related to the existing charge of fraud.
“The money laundering charge is founded on the same facts... it is concerned with the destination of the money,” he told the court. “The government alleges that some may have ended up in Force India Formula 1,” he added, when asked for further details by the Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot.
The additional charges add a new level of complexity to the case, requiring further submissions from both sides, including for India to update its outline of the case. Both sides are pushing for the existing dates for the hearing (December 8) to be maintained.
“We don’t want this happening on a regular basis,” said Arbuthnot of the addition of the new charges, warning that it could put the dates for the hearing at risk. She concurred with a defence request that no further material should be produced in relation to the case.
Mallya was arrested on April 18 after an extradition request was issued on January 31; since then a number of case and management hearings have been taking place ahead of the extradition hearing, which begins on December 4 and lasts for 8 days. The next hearing is due to take place on November 20. Mallya remains on bail until December 4.