New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday transferred assets worth Rs 9,371 crore to several public sector banks that suffered losses in alleged frauds perpetrated by fugitive businessmen Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and Vijay Mallya.
According to reports, the agency has claimed that 40 per cent of the money lost by the banks in the alleged Rs 22,000 crore fraud by the trio has been recovered so far.
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Modi, his uncle Choksi and Mallya are currently being probed by the ED and central investigative agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as they defrauded banks and termed these frauds as the country’s “biggest criminal loan theft”. classified as “. .
Commenting on the development, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman took to Twitter and said that fugitives and economic offenders will be actively pursued. “His property was attached and dues recovered,” he said.
In an official statement, the central agency said it has pointed out its shortcomings in two cases – fraud of Rs 13,000 crore allegedly committed by diamond merchant Nirav Modi, his uncle Mehul Choksi and others at PNB’s Brady House branch in Mumbai. and the Kingfisher Airlines fraud of about Rs 9,000 crore, started by Mallya.
The three accused had fled abroad after defrauding public sector banks through their companies, resulting in a total loss of Rs 22,000 crore (fixed numbers of Rs 22,585.83 crore) to a group of banks.
The ED is currently probing these cases under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and has attached and attached assets totaling Rs 18,170.02 crore in these two cases, which includes assets worth Rs 969 crore located abroad. .
“The quantum of assets attached and seized is 80.45 per cent of the total loss of Rs 22,585.83 crore of the bank,” the ED said.
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The agency also reported that the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT), on behalf of the SBI-led consortium that lent money to Mallya, sold fresh shares of United Breweries Ltd (UBL) worth Rs 5,824.50 crore.
In the investigation against Nirav Modi, assets worth Rs 1,060 crore were ‘restored’ to banks earlier.
The ED also returned homegrown assets like gold and diamond jewelery (of Modi and Choksi firms) from abroad to ensure that they are not disposed of and are available to banks and the exchequer for confiscation.
As on date, assets worth Rs 9,041.5 crore, “representing 40 per cent of the total loss to the banks, have been handed over to the public sector banks,” the ED said.
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