NEW DELHI, May 10:
The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), the agency with a mandate to probe white-collar crimes, is investigating the long-grounded Kingfisher Airlines for alleged financial irregularities, Parliament was informed today.
“SFIO is currently investigating Kingfisher Airlines. Since investigation is in progress, no comments are offered at this stage,” Corporate Affairs Minister Arun Jaitley said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
He said this in response to a query whether lapses by the auditing firms handling the UB Group case have been raised by lenders to Kingfisher/UB Group and being probed by SFIO.
Bogged down by a huge debt and operational issues, Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines was grounded in 2012.
A multi-disciplinary organisation, SFIO probes cases of financial frauds that are referred to it by the Corporate Affairs Ministry.
Mallya, widely known as ‘King of Good Times’ for his flamboyance and lavish lifestyle, is already facing the heat from lenders over loan defaults while the Enforcement Directorate has registered a money-laundering case against him and others.
Capital markets regulator Sebi is also probing his various group companies while the Debt Recovery Tribunal in March barred him from accessing a Rs 515-crore payout from Diageo as part of a ‘sweetheart deal’ to exit United Spirits. (PTI)
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