The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has given a big blow to fugitive liquor businessman Vijay Mallya. SEBI has banned Mallya from associating with any listed company for 3 years.
This step has been taken in the case in which Mallya used foreign bank accounts to illegally send money to the Indian securities market. Mallya has been living in Britain since March 2016 and the Indian government is trying to extradite him to face charges of fraud related to Kingfisher Airlines.
Wrong investment in Indian market
SEBI’s investigation found that Vijay Mallya used foreign institutional investors (FIIs) Matterhorn Ventures to secretly trade shares of his group companies – Herbertson Limited and United Spirits Limited (USL) from January 2006 to March 2008. For this, he sent funds through various foreign accounts and resorted to various foreign entities to hide his real identity.
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Mallya hid his identity
SEBI’s order said that Matterhorn Ventures was wrongly listed as a non-promoter public shareholder in Herbertson while its 9.98 per cent shareholding was in the promoter category. SEBI Chief General Manager Anita Anup said that Mallya traded in the Indian securities market through the FIIs route while concealing his identity and disregarding regulatory norms.
Fraud and deceptive work reports
Anup said that this act of Mallya was not only fraudulent and deceptive, but also a threat to the integrity of the securities market. In this situation, SEBI has barred Vijay Mallya from accessing the securities market and banned him from joining any listed firm for three years.
