Vijay Mallya is wanted by investigators in India for charges of money laundering. (File)
Businessman Vijay Mallya, neck-deep in legal trouble over crores in unpaid dues and money-laundering charges, is set to marry for the third time, suggest reports. He is believed to have decided to marry Pinky Lalwani, his partner for over three years.
Pinky Lalwani, a former air hostess, lives with Vijay Mallya, 62, at his mansion in Hertfordshire, about an hour and a half from London.
The two reportedly started dating when Vijay Mallya offered Pinky Lalwani a job in the Kingfisher Airlines.
The couple celebrated their anniversary of 'togetherness' about a week ago, according to sources close to them. Pinky Lalwani has been seen alongside Vijay Mallya on his trips to London for hearings in a court where India is fighting for his extradition. The two are almost always together in photographs at public events.
Vijay Mallya left India in March 2016, just as a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India started efforts to recover around Rs 9,000 crores loaned to the collapsed Kingfisher Airline.
The tycoon is also wanted by investigators in India for
charges of money laundering.
Vijay Mallya was previously married to Sameera Tyabjee, a former Air India airhostess, in 1986-87. In 1993, he married Rekha Mallya. He has three children from his two marriages, Siddharth, Leanna and Tanya.
The liquor baron was arrested by Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant in April last year, and is out on bail. In a recent hearing, a British judge said it was blindingly obvious that
rules were being broken by the Indian banks that sanctioned some of the loans to the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.