Bengaluru, Jan. 23: The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday searched the offices of Vijay Mallya-owned United Breweries (UB) group here, a CBI official said.
“A 12-member team of the CBI is searching the offices in the UB City with a search warrant from a Delhi court. We are providing logistical support and assistance to the team,” the official told IANS.
Though the official declined to specify the reason for the search warrant, informed sources hinted that the exercise was in connection with a FERA violation case against the group companies and Mallya.
The group company said its officials were cooperating with the CBI team.On November 4, a Delhi court issued a non-bailable warrant against Mallya for allegedly evading summons in a case of FERA violation.
The CBI search comes three days after the Debt Recovery Tribunal’s Bengaluru bench ordered the attachment and recovery of Mallya’s properties for defaulting on bank loans by his defunct Kingfisher Airlines Ltd.
Allowing a joint petition filed in June 2013 by a consortium of 17 banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI), the Tribunal’s Bengaluru bench said properties of Mallya and Kingfisher worth Rs 6,203 crore ($909 million) be recovered from them with 11.5 per cent interest per annum since July 26, 2013 over unpaid loans.
