Swiss Bank UBS AG Moves Court to Evict Vijay Mallya From Mortgaged Mansion In London

Swiss Bank UBS AG has moved country’s third highest court, UK high court to evict Indian fugitive, business tycoon Vijay Mallya, his mother, and son from their mansion in London, according to a report published by the Indian daily, The Times of India.

The bank has filed a petition for the possession of the multi-million-pound mansion on grounds that the mortgage has expired and not been repaid by Mallya, and others. The London high court is scheduled to hear the petition on October 24.

According to the report published in the newspaper, the Swiss lender made the claim in business and property court of the UK high court against Rose Capital Ventures Ltd, a British Virgin Islands-based firm owned by Mallya family trust, Lalitha Mallya and son Sidhartha Mallya.

Rose capital ventures took out a five-year interest-only mortgage from UBS on the mansion, 18 and 19 Cornwall Terrace for £20.4 million in 2012.

The shares in Rose Capital are owned by Gladco, which is registered in the name of Sileta trust, a Mallya family trust, as per the details which UBS attributes to Vijay Mallya. Mallya’s mother and son are the beneficiaries of this trust.

Rose Capital had purchased the assets and incorporated in the British Virgin Islands in 2005 for £5.4m and according to the title deeds, freehold rights to the assets lies with Crown Estate, namely the Queen.

According to the UBS, Mallya and others have refused to vacate the mansion despite the loan’s expiry and the lender’s request to the defendants. The Swiss lender seeks the court to declare that the Mallya and his members of the family are not legally entitled to enter or reside in the mansion.

The Swiss lender seeks Rose Capital to pay the loan’s outstanding sum and urged the court to declare that Mallya and his members of the family are not entitled to stay in the mansion. The sum owed is £20,718,236 as of September 1, last year, the lender claimed.

The bank states that it terminated the loan early in June 2016. Since the loan was not repaid, the bank appointed the receivers who began the proceedings against the four defendants and housekeeper for the property’s possession in November 2016. Following a court ruling in 2017, the housekeeper vacated the property, UBS claims in its statement to the court.

Since the mortgage ended on March 26, 2017, and the outstanding balance of £20.4m was still not paid. The bank opted to bring the proceedings to take possession of the property and to sell it, UBS said.  An attempt to refinance the loan with CBH Bank by Rose Capital failed and the UBS knows there are no other potential refinancing options for Rose Capital, UBS added.

Meanwhile, Barrister Jonathan Gavaghan of Blake Morgan LLP defending Mallya and others rejected the claims of UBS that UBS has the right to the property. According to them, Rose Capital had continued to pay the interest rate as per the rules and UBS hasn’t given any reason for calling in the loan early. The advocates who represent Mallya and others described UBS’s claim as a breach of mortgage laws.

The high court in an order said: “ The court record shall show that the defendants now act in person.” The high court also ruled that “Blake Morgan LLP has ceased to act as the solicitors for the defendants.”

The court is expected to start a five day trial on the case in May 2019.