Panama Papers: Vijay Mallya one of 500 Indians with offshore account

Just a day after a consortium of banks led by State Bank of India refused to accept a partial payback of a total of Rs 9,000 crore he owes to the banks, a Times of India report says Vijay Mallya is one of the 500 Indian names found in the infamous ‘Panama Papers’.

The report published on Friday says details accessed by the newspaper from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) website reveal that the leaked papers name a British Virgin Islands firm named Venture New Holding Limited which is linked directly to the liquor baron.

TOI reports that the address listed for Venture New Holding Limited, which started operating in February 2006, is 3 Vittal Mallya Road in Bengaluru.

The report says the offshore entity had a direct link with Porticullus Trust Net which the ICIJ describes as a 'one-stop solution' for the setting up of offshore accounts.

These leaks were essential to establish Mallya’s link to the company as another shell company owned by Mallya and operated as the nominee share holder.

TOI further reports that UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) had shared information about Venture New Holding and other offshore entities owned by Mallya with SEBI.

However, Indian Express which is the Indian reporting partner of the ICIJ has not yet revealed Mallya’s name. Since Monday, IE had been revealing the names of Indians mentioned in the leaked papers with detailed information about their involvement in their offshore accounts along with their reply.

On Thursday, a Supreme Court bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and R F Nariman asked for Mallya’s personal presence before the court. Mallya had left the country before the banks moved the Debt Recovery Tribunal in Bengaluru.

The liquor baron was termed as a wilful defaulter in November 2015 by State Bank of India.

Panama Papers

The Panama Papers are set of leaked documents which show how law firm Mossack Fonseca helped clients launder money, dodge sanctions and evade tax with offshore accounts. However, offshore accounts do not by default indicate illegality.

The investigation into the papers was carried out by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the investigation.

The leak is said to be one of the biggest ever and shows links to 72 current or former heads of state in the data, including dictators accused of looting their own countries.