ED to attach Vijay Mallya’s assets worth Rs 9,000 crore in money laundering case

With hopes of getting Vijay Mallya back to India hitting a roadblock, the Enforcement Directorate is now preparing to get his assets in India attached. The agency is mulling over attaching domestic assets and shares worth about Rs 9,0000000000 owned by the liquor baron in connection with its money laundering probe against him and others in the IDBI bank loan fraud case. Sources said the agency has already started the exercise of identifying and valuing the immovable assets of the businessman across the country in order to place them under attachment under criminal provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). They said ED will also inform market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) about its move to similarly attach his shares in various Indian companies so that no third party rights are created. [related-post] ED officials said that as per preliminary assessment, the value of the assets that would be provisionally attached would be around Rs 9,0000000000, an amount equal to the total default of bank loans Mallya is accused of. They said Mallya’s assets, in the form of bungalows, costly vehicles, bank balances and others have already been assessed by agency sleuths probing the case. Banks will also be taken on-board before attaching these assets under PMLA laws, they said, adding that ED does not want to “jeopardise” their interests over these assets through which they are planning to recover their loans. WATCH INDIAN EXPRESS VIDEOS HERE