Investigators summon debt-laden Indian tycoon

Mumbai

INDIA'S financial crimes agency on Friday summoned the founder of the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines Vijay Mallya in connection with a money-laundering probe, after he left the country owing more than US$1 billion in unpaid loans to banks.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued a summons for the liquor baron, who is thought to be in Britain, to appear before investigators in Mumbai on March 18, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported. Indian TV reporters said that they had traced Mr Mallya to the Hertfordshire village of Tewin, north of London, where he is known to locals. The businessman's luxury home, called Ladywalk, cost £11.5 million (S$22.7 million) when bought in July 2015, property records show.