Vijay Mallya laundered money to companies in UK: Enforcement Directorate

New Delhi: Enforcement Directorate (ED) is in possession of documents which claim that the beleaguered liquor baron Vijay Mallya laundered money from banks in India to 'British companies' situated in the UK.

As per a report published in the Times of India, ED has shared the documents with the UK government.

Additionally, CBI has already shared information about Mallya being wanted in India with regard to cases of cheating and criminal conspiracy.

The Times of India report further states that Mallya laundered most of the money before he fled to London on March 2 last year.

The report states that substantial portion of the money was shifted to to shell companies and bank accounts in the UK, Cayman Islands, Mauritius and some other countries.

The 61-year-old liquor baron, wanted in India for defaulting on bank loans, was arrested after he appeared at a central London police station on Monday morning.

Mallya was released on conditional bail a few hours later after providing a bail bond of 650,000 pounds and giving an assurance to the court that he will abide by all conditions associated with extradition proceedings, such as the surrender of his passport and a ban on him possessing any travel document.

The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will now argue the case on behalf of the Indian authorities.

Last month, setting in motion the process of extradition of Mallya, the British government had certified India's request and sent it to a district judge for further action.

The extradition process from the UK involves a number of steps including a decision by the judge whether to issue a warrant of arrest.

In case of a warrant, the person is arrested and brought before the court for preliminary hearing followed by an extradition hearing before a final decision is taken by the secretary of state.

The wanted person has a right to appeal in the higher courts against any decision all the way up to Britain's Supreme Court.

Under the 2003 Act, the British secretary of state may only consider four issues when deciding whether to order a person's extradition.

They are whether the person is at risk of the death penalty; whether special arrangements are in place; whether the person concerned has previously been extradited from another country to the UK and the consent of that country to his onward extradition is required;?and whether the person has previously been transferred to the UK by the International Criminal Court.