Vijay Mallya
India’s Supreme Court has found embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya guilty of contempt and ordered him to appear before the court by July 10.

SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — India’s top court on Tuesday held embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya guilty of contempt of court in a case moved by banks to recover funds owed by him, Indian television channels reported.

Mallya is alleged to owe a consortium of Indian banks nearly $800 million, but has denied any wrongdoing in the matter.

India’s Supreme Court ordered Mallya appear before them by July 10, but he has remained at his London residence. India is seeking his extradition to face a raft of charges relating to financial irregularities at his defunct Kingfisher Airlines. The contempt petition was filed in the Supreme Court by a group of banks, led by the State Bank of India.

They have accused the 61-year-old former Indian MP of transferring $40 million which he received in severance pay from United Kingdom drinks giant Diageo to his children last year in “flagrant violation” of various court orders. A court blocked the $75 million payment in March of last year after creditors demanded it be used to settle Mallya’s outstanding debts, but $40 million had already been transferred.

Mallya made his fortune selling beer under the Kingfisher brand before branching out into aviation and Formula 1 racing.

He is the co-owner of the F1 team Force India and also owns the Indian Premier League cricket franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore. Mallya’s airline was grounded in 2012 and its flying permit lapsed the following year. Kingfisher made annual losses for five years in a row and finally collapsed after lenders refused to give it fresh loans.

His total debts, including unpaid wages and operating costs, are estimated to exceed $1 billion.

Mallya entered the United Kingdom in March 2016. A month later India revoked his passport and asked the UK to return him.