Court convicts Vijay Mallya of cheque fraud

UB Group chairman Vijay Mallya was on Wednesday convicted by a local court in Hyderabad in a cheque-bouncing case against his grounded Kingfisher Airlines Ltd. A fresh non-bailable warrant has been issued against the former liquor baron.

The local court is expected to pronounce the quantum of sentence on 5 May, according to a report by Asian News International.

The Press Trust of India has also reported that Mallya was convicted by a Hyderabad court in connection with alleged dishonour of cheques amounting to Rs50 lakh to GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), which is run by the GMR Group.

This is the second non-bailable warrant against Mallya in the last three days.

A special court on Monday issued a non-bailable warrant against Mallya, as investigators and creditors strive for the return of the embattled businessman from abroad.

The PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court issued the warrant in response to a petition filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), alleging Mallya had siphoned Rs430 crore from an IDBI Bank Ltd loan to his Kingfisher Airlines to purchase properties overseas (See: Court tells ED to execute warrant against Mallya)

The UB Group has denied the allegation by ED.

Last week, the government suspended his passport on a request by the ED. The foreign ministry said on 15 April that Mallya had a week to explain why his passport shouldn't be impounded or revoked, after suspending it for a month.

Mallya, 60, flew out of India days before creditors moved the apex court to restrain him from leaving India and sought an arrest warrant against the businessman.

Earlier this month, a lenders' consortium spurned Mallya's offer to repay Rs4,000 crore to settle the Rs9,091 crore debt of Kingfisher Airlines. He had also offered to pay an additional Rs2,000 crore if he wins a pending lawsuit against an aircraft engine maker.