ED takes over Vijay Mallya’s Rs100-cr farmhouse in Raigad

Continuing the confiscation of properties belonging to absconding businessman Vijay Mallya, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday took possession of his seafront farmhouse worth Rs100 crore in Raigad district of Maharashtra, an official in Mumbai said.

The farmhouse, sprawled over 17 acres with a beach, is located in the picturesque Kolegaon village of Mandwa in the Konkan region, near the tourist spot of Alibaug.

The ED said the property belongs to Mandwa Farms Pvt Ltd (MFPL), controlled by Mallya, the former liquor baron and founder of Kingfisher Airlines, the failure of which has led to his current woes. Mallya is currently in the United Kingdom and has been declared an "absconder" by a Mumbai court.

On 25 April, the ED served an eviction order and asked the company to vacate the property, with a registry value of Rs25 crore, and provisionally attached the premises.

The provisional attachment order was later confirmed by the adjudicating authority of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The MFPL challenged the move before a tribunal and sought a stay, which was rejected on 16 May. This paved the way for the ED to take over the property, the official said.

Mallya's luxurious beachfront bungalow 'Kingfisher Villa' in Goa was sold on 8 April for Rs73 crore in an auction by lender banks to Kingfisher Airlines. It was bought by Bollywood and South Indian film actor Sachiin Joshi.

Even as a massive operation was to recover around Rs9,000 crore owed by Mallya to Indian banks led by the State Bank of India, Mallya flew to Britain in March 2016 and has not returned. He was briefly arrested in London on 18 April and granted bail.