This is the moment ex-billionaire Vijay Mallya smiles awkwardly next to dear friend and fellow controversial tycoon Lalit Modi as he shamelessly boasts that they are ‘the biggest fugitives of India‘.
The cringeworthy clip, taken at Mallya’s 70th birthday bash held at Modi’s extravagant multi-million-pound Belgravia home, has caused outrage across India as authorities continue to pursue the duo for a string of alleged financial crimes.
The video, which Modi posted on social media with the caption ‘let me do something to break the internet down again’, sees him posing with Mallya as he makes the controversial statement, which was largely seen as mocking their native country.
The pair, who do not try very hard to hide their lavish lifestyles spent partying at the most exclusive private members’ clubs in Mayfair and throwing large gatherings at their sprawling mansions, have for years been the subject of failed extradition efforts by Indian authorities.
Once dubbed as the ‘Richard Branson of India’, Mallya, who founded Kingfisher beers and Kingfisher Airlines, is understood to live in a £11.5million mansion in the leafy village of Tewin, in Hertfordshire.
The grand property, which was formerly the home of F1 champion Lewis Hamilton‘s father Anthony, was purchased by the family using companies with offshore links.
Among his flashy portfolio is also a Grade-I listed Georgian townhouse worth over £20million which overlooks Regent’s Park, purchased through similar means. He also formerly owned exclusive mansions in California and Cannes, as well as a castle in Buckingham, to name but a few.
Despite facing fraud charges in India over £1bn of unpaid debts to his now defunct airliner, and losing a High Court battle against extradition from the UK in 2020, Mallya continues to live a life of ultimate luxury.
The flamboyant magnate was once described by a senior district judge at Westminster Magistrates’ Court as a ‘glamorous, flashy, famous, bejewelled, bodyguarded, ostensibly billionaire playboy’.
Ex-billionaire Vijay Mallya (right) and Pinky Lalwani (middle) smile as friend and tycoon Lalit Modi claims the two men are the ‘biggest fugitives of India’
The men are wanted in India over allegations involving fraud and financial irregularities, but live in a life of luxury in the UK. Pictured is Mallya’s Hertfordshire mansion
Mallya, 70, also owns a property in central London, purchased through family members and offshore links, pictured above
Modi is a businessman who founded the Indian Premier League. However, he fled India after he was accused of money laundering and bid-rigging, but he claims the reason for his departure was linked to death threats from criminals
Mallya owned Kingfisher beer and Kingfisher Airlines. When the airliner collapsed, Mallya was accused of fraud and creditors have been pursuing an alleged £1bn of defaulted loans
Mallya is unlikely to ever step foot in the two-storey replica of the White House he built in Bangalore, India. It is built on the top of Kingfisher Towers and sits 400ft high in the sky
Meanwhile, Modi, co-founder of the Indian Premier League (IPL), lives in comfort at a five-storey mansion on Belgrave Square and recently held his 62th birthday celebrations partying hard at famous Mayfair private members’ club Maddox.
This is despite Indian authorities attempting to return him to the country to face numerous cases of alleged financial irregularities and money laundering against him.
The flashy millionaire, who regularly posts snaps of himself enjoying holidays around the world and throwing opulent parties at his home, fled India in 2010, just after he was suspended as chairman and commissioner of the IPL.
Modi was facing controversy over alleged bid-rigging but insisted his reason for fleeing was due to death threats from criminals.
In 2015, a Mumbai court issued an arrest warrant for Modi, however it is understood Interpol twice rejected India’s requests to issue a global alert notice.
After becoming a citizen of Vanuatu, a South Pacific island that has no extradition treaty with India, the island’s prime minister last year announced his passport would be revoked after being alerted to that fact he is wanted. It is understood Modi had also applied to surrender his Indian passport.
But since leaving his India, Modi has continued to live a millionaire lifestyle, residing in extravagant central London locations including Sloane Square and Belgravia.
Both Modi and Mallya continue to brush shoulders with the rich and famous, from top cricketers to Bollywood stars. Among attendees at Mallya’s 70th birthday celebrations, where the controversial video was taken, was the likes of actor Idris Elba.
Following outrage caused by Modi’s ‘biggest fugitives’ comment, Indian authorities re-iterated their ‘full commitment’ to bring back individuals who are ‘wanted by law in India’.
Modi has since publicly apologised on X, stating his words were ‘misconstrued’.
He wrote: ‘I apologise if I have hurt anyone feelings especially the Indian Government who I have the highest respect and regard for.
‘The statement was misconstrued and was never intended to be as played out. Once again my deepest apologies.’
The 62-year-old has also consistently denied all allegations against him, and claims that there is no extradition notice, after Interpol twice rejected it.
Meanwhile, Mallya, the ex-owner of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines, fled to London in 2016 after a host of fraud and money laundering charges were brought against him after his firm went bust.
The 70-year-old ‘billionaire playboy’ claimed over £1billion in loans that it is alleged he knew he could never repay, in a bid to try and save his failing airline.
He defaulted on huge loans from a state-run bank in India and is accused of misusing them by funneling the funds into ‘vanity projects’ and rerouting them through the Force India F1 team, which he founded.
But despite losing an appeal at the High Court in 2020, he continues to indulge in a luxury lifestyle, hiding in plain sight in the UK.
Mallya in December 2023, posing with models at a launch of the Kingfisher 2014 calendar in Mumbai, India
Modi, posing for a snap by the pool while on holiday in Portofino, Italy. The 62-year-old is wanted in India over accusations of money laundering and financial irregularities
Despite fleeing India in 2010, and Indian authorities repeatedly attempting to bring him to India to face courts, Modi lives a life of luxury in London. He hosted Mallya’s 70th birthday at his Belgravia home (pictured above)
A photo posted online by a guest at Mallya’s son Sidharta’s wedding shows the Hertfordshire mansion, which was used as the wedding venue
Mallya also once owned the historic Stowe Castle, in Buckingham, but sold it in 2015
The pair have posted themselves partying at exclusive private members’ club Maddox. Here, Modi is enjoying his recent 62nd birthday held at Maddox
According to Indian media, it has been reported that Mallya made an asylum claim in the UK, arguing that he would not be given a fair trial in India.
The ex-billionaire, who had a mansion built on top of a skyscraper in Bangalore, India, has denied all charges against him, but lost his appeals against extradition.
Kingfisher Airlines was at one point one of India’s biggest domestic carriers, pairing luxury with budget prices, however collapsed in 2012.
In a four-hour long podcast with Indian influencer Raj Shamani last year, Mallya claimed he was still being harassed by lenders despite paying all outstanding debts.
However, the government and banks hit back, declaring that the ‘economic fugitive’ still owes large amounts of money.
In 2022, the Kingfisher tycoon was sentenced to jail for four months for disobeying an earlier court judgement. India’s Supreme Court found him guilty of contempt of court for failing to disclose his assets after defaulting on a loan.
Mallya maintains that his vast property portfolio, largely purchased by family members through the use of multiple offshore companies, is completely legal.
In 2022, he saved his mansion on Cornwall Terrace, Regent’s Park, from being repossessed after failing to repay a £20.4million mortgage loan to Swiss bank UBS AG.
He was able to release trust funds held in the Bahamas in his children’s names to pay off the debt and retain his central London home, which he previously claimed his elderly mother and son lived at.
Meanwhile, Mallya’s impressive Hertfordshire mansion Ladywalk, which sits across 30 acres, links back to the company Ladywalk Investments, is registered in offshore tax haven British Virgin Islands.
His son Sidharta Mallya married wife Jasmine at the expansive mansion in 2024.
The magnate also once owned Stowe Castle, in Buckingham, at the peak of his success, but sold the 18th century farmhouse in 2015.
But his property empire once spanned across the world.
Mallya once owned a palatial residence, called Le Grand Jardin, on a private island off Cannes.
He had purchased the property through a company with a £22m loan from Ansbacher & Co., a unit of Qatar National Bank SAQ.
He had left the palace to fall into disrepair and was sued by the bank after being accused of defaulting on the loan. It is understood the residence was sold as part of a legal settlement and has since been turned into a luxury hotel.
Mallya also previously owned a palatial residence on a private island near Cannes. He defaulted on a more than £20million mortgage loan from UBS, and it is understood it was later sold as part of a legal settlement
Mallya pictured while he was an MP in India during 2014. He arrives at Parliament House
An aerial view of Le Grand Jardin. When creditors checked the home after Mallya was said to have left it abandoned and in a state of disrepair, they said the value of the home had significantly deteriorated
A view from a balcony in Mallya’s former French mansion, which he let ‘rot’ for years
In Sausalito, California, the embattled liquor magnate had previously owned one of the most impressive mansions in the town. The £10.4million property featured seven bedrooms, a temperature-controlled wine cellar, pool and sauna.
He sold the property in 2024.
Back in his native India, there remains an extravagant mansion, intended to be a replica of the White House, sat atop the Kingfisher skyscraper in Bangalore.
The bizarre residence, which sits 400ft up in the sky, is worth £15m yet the magnate has never stepped foot in it.
The businessman also owned a nearly £70million superyacht, which he called the Indian Empress, but it was seized in a dispute over failing to pay crew wages.
Mallya lost an appeal last year against a bankruptcy order made by a coalition of Indian banks.
The 70-year-old was first made the subject of an extradition request from the Indian government to the UK government in 2017.
The order was signed by then Home Secretary Sajid Javid after a senior judge ruled that Mr Mallya had a case to answer during a hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in December 2018.
He challenged that decision at the High Court in 2020, with his lawyers arguing Judge Arbuthnot was wrong to conclude there was a case against him to answer.
But, in a ruling, Lord Justice Irwin and Mrs Justice Elisabeth Laing rejected his appeal.
They said at the time: ‘It is clear beyond any doubt that the senior district judge directed herself properly.
‘It is clear she had the criminal burden and standard in mind when she considered whether there was a prima facie case.’
Senior District Judge Arbuthnot found Mr Mallya had misrepresented how loans received from banks would be used.
She said that bankers had been ‘charmed’ by a ‘glamorous, flashy, famous, bejewelled, bodyguarded, ostensibly billionaire playboy’ into losing their common sense.
Pictured: Mallya posing with the Force India F1 car at its launch in 2008
The two controversial businessmen posing with cricketer Chris Gayle at a party they threw
Friends watch on as Mallya and Modi sing Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way’ at a party
Superyacht Indian Empress, which was owned by Mallya, in Vittoriosa, Malta
During a court hearing in December 2018, District Judge Emma Arbuthnot said the former Indian politician should be extradited.
‘I find there was misrepresentation about what the loans would be used for.
‘These payments included what some might say were vanity projects.’
She said there was evidence loan payments were ‘used to clear bills’ and for ‘sponsor payments’ to his motor racing team in 2010.
‘Essentially it appears that KFA was funding Dr Mallya’s team,’ she said. ‘In 2011 they voluntarily refunded the KFA.
‘It’s either the case that the various continuing failures were by design and with a motive… or it is a case of a bank who were enthralled with a glamorous, body-guarded, flamboyant man who charmed and cajoled bankers to lose their common sense’.
During that hearing, Mr Mallya, denied allegations of money laundering and fraud and branded them a ‘witch-hunt’.
Speaking after the hearing in 2018, he said: ‘I know the truth – that will come out in what we have to say.
‘She talked about Formula One team sponsorship – what she missed was when £15m was sent back to the KPA when they needed it, when they were in difficulty.’
Both Mallya and Modi have been approached for comment.
The Home Office said it does not comment on individual cases.
