Did Vijay Mallya Donate Rs 35 Crore To BJP Before Leaving India?

A cheque, purportedly signed by Vijay Mallya and issued to Bharatiya Janata Party is doing the rounds on WhatsApp. The message along with the cheque claims that Mallya contributed Rs 35 crore to BJP before fleeing to London.

CLAIM : A cheque of Rs 35 crore signed by Vijay Mallya before he fled to London has been deposited in BJP's fund.

FACT: The cheque is a fabricated one and does not belong to Vijay Mallya.

A close look at the cheque shows that it is fake on multiple counts.

1) Bharatiya Janata Party is misspelt in the cheque as Bhartiya Janta Party.

2) The signature of Vijay Mallya in the cheque is fake and not his.

Below is a letter signed by Vijay Mallya as tweeted from his official Twitter account. His own signature is seen in the letter.

3) The cheque is dated November 2016 (08/11/2016) while Vijay Mallya left India on March 2, 2016. However, there lies a possibility of a post-dated cheque. But it is quite unlikely that the BJP will accept a donation in cheque from the industrialist who has been accused of fleeing the country without paying his dues to the banks in India.

4) The cheque owner is Glamour Steels Private Limited. The company directors are Amit Kumar Saxena and Mukesh Kumar.

5) Incidentally, this is the same cheque that had created quite a stir in May 2017 when a former AAP minister Kapil Mishra had alleged that the Aam Aadmi party had converted black money into white through hawala transactions. Mishra had alleged that AAP received two cheques of Rs 35 crore each from shell companies.

A closer look at both the cheques shows the amount was drawn from the same account - 916020029429703 and the same cheque number - 119289. Even the amount in figures and in words are the same.

However, the latter does not have date on it.

Aam Aadmi party had hit back against Kapil Mishra by asking how can the cheque be encashed by the party if he has the original cheque with him.

6) The cheque has been crossed in the middle, while the accepted practice is to cross it at the upper left hand corner. Crossing the cheque means that the amount can only be deposited in the bank account of the payee.

7) There is no 'sign /-' after the amount of Rs 35,00,00,00 written in digits. The norm is to add the sign to avoid anyone adding extra digits to the amount for which the cheque has been signed for.

Cheques in the names of loan defaulters seems to be the new prank. Another cheque is doing rounds on social media claiming to be of Nirav Modi issued in the name of Indian National Congress. Here, the amount is Rs 98 crores.

The cheque is fake due to similar reasons.

The amount has been misspelt in the cheque - Ninety has been written as Ninenty. The cheque does not use the sign /- after the amount in digits. And, the cheque has been scratched below the signature which shows that the cheque has been tampered with.

Additional Reporting : Anika Vyas

Anika Vyas is an intern with BOOM.