THE FORMER Whyte and Mackay owner Vijay Mallya has been charged with conspiracy and fraud connected to a nine billion rupee (£105.6 million) loan granted by a government-owned bank.
The head of the Force India Formula One team and a former owner of an Indian Premier League cricket team, one-time billionaire Mallya moved to Britain last March after being pursued in courts by banks seeking to recover about £1.12 billion the Indian authorities claim is owed by his Kingfisherairline.
India's Central Bureau of Investigation, in its charge-sheet, accused India's self-styled 'King of Good Times' of diverting from India 2.54 billion rupees (£29.8 million) intended for the now-defunct airline.
In total, charges were brought against Mallya and nine other people, as well as the airline itself. A former chairman and managing director of the government bank, IDBI Bank Ltd was arrested along with another four bank executives.
The CBI also arrested the airline's chief financial officer and three senior officials.
The CBI spokesperson said the officials would be held in judicial custody until Monday, pending a bail hearing.
A spokesman for Mallya coud not immediately be reached for comment.
The arrests made were the first since 2014, when the CBI initiated an enquiry into loans provided by the bank to the already debt-ridden airline.
The Mallya case has emerged against the backdrop of regulatory scrutiny over bank loans to over-extended companies.
Mallya and his United Spirits firm took over the Whyte & Mackay whisky business for a staggering £595m - three times the price paid for it six years earlier in 2007.
He was forced to sell for antitrust reasons seven years later for £430m following a move by rival British drinks giant Diageo to buy a controlling stake in the Indian spirits maker.
The businessman has said he now lives in what he calls "forced exile" in London, after the collapse of his airline carrier in 2012 and accused of failing to repay debts.
The diplomatic passport Mallya was issued after becoming a member of Indian parliament's upper house was revoked in April 2016 after a non-bailable warrant for his arrest was issued.
The Indian authorities had sought ways to have Mallya deported by Britain.
The CBI action against Mallya may now open the doors for India to begin work on a formal extradition process.
A household name in India, Mallya's flagship companies included United Spirits and United Breweries, which produce one of the country's best-selling beers, Kingfisher Premium.
In his heyday, he became known as the 'Richard Branson of India', after establishing Kingfisher Airlines, at one time the biggest domestic carrier in the country.
He was a regular on the Bollywood and celebrity circuit, was often pictured with the models of his Kingfisher swimsuit calendar and is the owner of Formula One team, Force India.
Criticism of Mr Mallya spiked in December, 2015 when he held a lavish two-day 60th birthday party at his Kingfisher Villa in Goa, and had pop star Enrique Iglesias flown in to perform.
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