The Enforcement Directorate has transferred assets worth Rs 9,371 crores belonging to fugitive businessmen Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi, and Vijay Mallya to state-run banks to compensate for the losses on account of the financial frauds committed against them by these three men.
The agency said that ED not only attached/seized assets worth ₹18,170.02 crores (80.45% of the total loss to banks) in the case of Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, and Mehul Choksi under the PMLA but also transferred a part of the attached/seized assets of ₹9371.17 Crore to the PSBs and Central Government.
Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, and Mehul Choksi – all facing extradition trials – have defrauded Public Sector Banks by siphoning off the funds through their companies which resulted in a total loss of ₹ 22,585.83 crores to the banks.
Taking note of the development, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said fugitives and economic offenders will be actively pursued and dues recovered.
The ED also said that it has unearthed a money trail of domestic and international transactions and stashing of assets abroad.
The investigation revealed that the three accused used dummy entities controlled by them for rotation and siphoning off the funds provided by the banks, it said.
Mallya had fled to Britain in March 2016 after being pursued recovery of Rs 9,091 crore owed to a State Bank of India-led consortium of 17 Indian banks, by his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines. The Indian authorities have been trying to secure his extradition ever since.
Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi are wanted in India for allegedly siphoning off Rs 13,500 crore of public money from the state-run Punjab National Bank, using fake guarantees to secure overseas loans.