Jay Vallabh: Mallya's key man to manage his empire abroad

An Indian origin attorney based in Switzerland is turning out to be a key man ofVijay Mallya's empire abroad. Sixty-four-year-old Jay Vallabh is named director and authorised signatory in many of the offshore vehicles related to the liquor baron.

Regulatory filings with US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) and public documents available on the company registries of locations such as Isle of Man and Panama showed that Vallabh's name figured prominently in several of these vehicles. While filings in UK's Companies House, the equivalent of Registrar of Companies, identified him as Jayprakash Vallabh, filings in Panama and Isle of Man referred to him as Jay Vallabh. In an SEC filing dating back to 1997, he figures as "J Vallabh". Further records showed that Vallabh has floated and dissolved scores of companies across various jurisdictions over the past several years.

He was also a significant shareholder in a Mauritius vehicle Watson Ltd that owned 21 per cent stake in the listed firm UB (Holdings), or UBHL, which in turn held around 60 per cent in the Kingfisher Airlines. This gave Jay and wife, Susanna, an indirect holding of around 12 per cent stake in Kingfisher Airlines in the first few years. Their names found their way to official records in the US, which insist on disclosures leading up to natural persons.

In an order approving code-share arrangements between Kingfisher Airlines and American Airlines, issued by the Department of Transportation of the US on March 8, 2011, it is clear that the Vallabhs had a significant stake in Kingfisher Airlines itself.

"The record further indicates that the majority of Kingfisher's shares are owned by United Breweries (Holdings) Ltd (United Breweries), an Indian company with 60.59 per cent of Kingfisher's shares; and Vijay Mallya, a citizen of India with 5.69 per cent of Kingfisher's shares. With respect to United Breweries, the record shows that it is majority owned by Watson Ltd, a company of Mauritius holding 21.19 per cent of the United Breweries shares. Watson Ltd is ultimately owned in equal shares by Jay Vallabh and Susanna Vallabh, both citizens of Switzerland," said the order.