16:27, 05-Dec-2017
Formula One: Force India co-owner faces extradition hearing in UK
[]
Share
Copied
More news from formula one, Force India's co-owner Vijay Mallya was in court Monday facing an extradition hearing in the U-K. The Indian tycoon was arrested in response to a request from the Indian Government. The 61-year-old left court insisting his innocence over money-laundering accusations.
Mallya launched Kingfisher Airlines in 2005, but it ran into trouble as it expanded. The Indian government suspended the airline's license in 2012 after it failed to pay pilots and engineers for months. On the first day of the hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court, the businessman and former politician proclaimed he had done nothing wrong.
Mark Summers, representing the Indian prosecutors, described Mallya's attempt to prop up his ailing Kingfisher Airlines with bank loans in 2009 despite the carrier's dire financial straits. Summers indicated the government plans to show that loans totaling hundreds of millions of dollars were misused. Indian officials have said Mallya is deeply in debt.
The extradition hearing is expected to take roughly two weeks and lead to a verdict on whether Mallya will be sent back to India or allowed to remain in Britain. The tycoon will have the right to a further appeal if he loses his bid to remain in the United Kingdom. It's unclear how this will affect his dealings with the F-1 team.