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New Delhi: CBI officer Suman Kumar’s “thorough and meticulous” investigation and countless visits to London finally paid off after three long years in the bank fraud case against flamboyant businessman Vijay Mallya.
Mallya, the high-flying owner of the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines, on Thursday lost his request for permission to appeal his extradition to India at the UK Supreme Court, setting a 28-day clock for his expulsion from the UK.
The extradition case refers to the alleged bank fraud of ₹Rs 900 million at IDBI Bank. The embattled liquor baron is also facing an investigation into another case involving an alleged fraud of more than ₹Rs 9 billion in a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India.
Kumar was assigned the case against Mallya, known for his swanky lifestyle and who addressed the Indian Parliament as a member of Rajya Sabha, as DSP of Bank Fraud and Security Cell, Mumbai, in October 2015.
Kumar is now an additional police superintendent at the country’s top investigative agency.
Mallya was facing the heat of the media as her bankrupt aviation company was struggling to pay staff salaries and retain the premium services it had promised its clients with a clamor to book it more and more, agency sources said.
It was a complicated situation for the CBI as the lending banks did not file a complaint against Mallya despite serious allegations of fraud against him, they said.
The agency decided to go ahead and used its source-based information to record the first FIR against Mallya related to ₹Rs 900 million of alleged loan fraud against him. And Kumar was entrusted with the probe.
The officer, who joined the agency as a 23-year-old deputy inspector, had an impeccable record as a principal investigator of white-collar crimes by winning the CBI gold medal for best investigative officer in 2002 awarded by the then-prime minister. Manmohan Singh in 2004.
Fifty-five-year-old Kumar, honed in the traditional CBI investigative style, also received the Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 2008, Outstanding Investigator in 2013, and the President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service in 2015 when took over the case.
In 2016, Mallya escaped the country causing embarrassment to the agency and triggering an uphill legal battle in the UK courts to bring him back.
Then-Additional Director Rakesh Asthana assumed the reins of the case as Head of the Special Investigation Team. He and Kumar proved to be a powerful team investigating the case, touring London to ensure that not a single hearing is missed, and coordinating with the Crown Prosecution Service representing the case in London courts.
The job was difficult as India had a very poor record of success in extradition cases in Europe, especially in the UK. The case was fought by the Crown Prosecution Service with the active support of the CBI and the Directorate of Execution.
Kumar ensured that a specific case of fraud is established and a charge sheet is filed in India to present a robust case for Mallya’s extradition. It was imperative that India have a case against Mallya that was punishable under UK law.
Through his thorough investigation, Kumar managed to establish an alleged fraud and money laundering in his investigation for which charge sheets were filed in India.
“We were not contesting a trial there. We had to convince the courts that a prima facie case is intended to justify extradition to India,” said a senior official.
Kumar’s findings in his investigation managed to make a conclusive argument in support of Mallya’s extradition to India that culminated in the UK High Court denying him authorization to approach the Supreme Court to challenge his extradition.
The CBI praised Kumar for his efforts in the case.
“CBI appreciates the thorough investigation, hard work and meticulous efforts of investigative officer Suman Kumar, additional SP, CBI in the successful search for investigative and extradition procedures against the fugitive,” the agency spokesman said.
This story has been published from a cable agency source without modification to the text. Only the owner has been changed.
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