The Supreme Court on February 23 was informed by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that Rs 18,000 crores have been recovered from fugitives Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, and Mehul Choksi.
Mehta told the apex court that the value of cases registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Mallya, Modi, and Choksi is now Rs 67,000 crore.
The court was hearing a batch of petitions, that challenge the ED's powers of search, seizure, investigation, and attachment of proceeds of crime.
"The Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the cases of Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, and Mehul Choksi has managed to confiscate assets worth over ₹18,000 crore due to orders passed by the courts under (the) PMLA," Mehta said, as quoted by a report in the Hindustan Times.
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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in December last year, had informed that as of July 2021 banks had recovered Rs 13,109 crore after the sale of assets belonging to the three. At the time the latest tranche of recoveries was valued at Rs 792 crore.
Mallya (represented by his lawyers) is due in the Supreme Court on February 24 for one last chance to defend himself in contempt of court case. The case will be heard by a bench led by Justice UU Lalit.
He is accused of a bank loan default case involving defunct Kingfisher Airlines that is worth more than Rs 9,000 crore. He is presently in the United Kingdom.
Choksi is wanted over a Rs 13,500 crore fraud case involving the Punjab National Bank. He is currently in the Caribbean island of Antigua, after having secured bail from Dominica, where he was caught while trying to flee to avoid extradition to India. Nirav Modi, Choksi's nephew, is also wanted in a fraud case involving PNB. He is also in London, pending extradition to India.
