Vijay Mallya & PNB cases: ED transfers Rs 9,371-crore assets to banks, govt

A important portion of the assets successful question was held successful the sanction of dummy entities, trusts, 3rd persons oregon relatives of these accused and these entities were their proxies for holding the properties.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) connected Wednesday said it had transferred to public-sector banks and the Central authorities assets worthy `9,371 crore belonging to fugitive economical offenders Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi.

The bureau has attached/seized assets worthy a full of Rs 18,170 crore, constituting implicit 80% of the losses of Rs 22,586 crore incurred by banks owed to the alleged frauds committed by these 3 businessmen. These besides see properties worthy Rs 969 crore located abroad.

Of these, assets worthy astir Rs 329.67 crore person been confiscated and those amounting to Rs 9,041.5 crore person been handed implicit to the PSBs (taking the full to Rs 9,371 crore), the ED said.

Meanwhile, Nirav Modi has mislaid the archetypal signifier of his extradition entreaty successful the London precocious court, conscionable implicit 2 months aft his extradition to India was ordered by UK location caput Priti Patel successful the PNB scam case.

Analysts said the determination to connect assets was made substantially easier by the enactment of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018. The instrumentality empowers authorities to connect assets of specified offenders who fly India to flight the scope of instrumentality adjacent without a conviction.

Also, this instrumentality provides for the attachment of each the assets of the offenders, irrespective of whether these are the proceeds of transgression oregon not. It covers offences with a worth of Rs 100 crore oregon more.

The ED said it had precocious transferred attached shares worthy Rs 6,600 crore to a State Bank of India (SBI)-led consortium pursuing an bid of the PMLA Special Court, Mumbai. On Wednesday, the Debt Recovery Tribunal, connected behalf of the consortium, sold the shares of United Breweries for Rs 5,824.50 crore. Further realisation of adjacent to Rs 800 crore done stock merchantability is expected by June 25. With its help, state-run banks had earlier recovered Rs 1,357 crore by selling the attached shares, the bureau added.

After the cases were registered by the CBI, the ED unearthed “myriad web of home and planetary transactions and stashing of assets abroad”. “Investigation has besides irrevocably proved that these 3 accused persons utilized dummy entities controlled by them for rotation and siphoning disconnected the funds provided by the banks,” the ED said.

A important portion of the assets successful question was held successful the sanction of dummy entities, trusts, 3rd persons oregon relatives of these accused and these entities were their proxies for holding the properties.

Complaints were filed against each the 3 accused aft the probe nether the Prevention of Money Laundering Act was completed. Extradition requests were sent for them to the UK (for Mallya and Nirav Modi) and Antigua and Barbuda (for Choksi).

Already, the extradition of Mallya has been ordered by the Westminster Magistrates Court, which has been confirmed by the UK High Court. Since Mallya has been denied support to record an entreaty successful the Supreme Court of the UK, his extradition to India is astir final, the bureau said.

Choksi, who was precocious discovered successful Dominica aft helium disappeared from Antigua, is besides facing extradition proceedings.