Rs 19,000 crore-worth assets of fugitive Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi seized: Govt

File image of Vijay Mallya (Image: Reuters)

Assets cumulatively worth over Rs 19,000 crore, belonging to financial crime fugitives Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, have been seized so far, the Centre informed the Parliament on March 22.

The submission was made by Pankaj Chaudhary, the Minister of State for Finance, while responding to a query in the Rajya Sabha. In a written reply, he said the trio have defrauded public sector banks to the tune of Rs 22,585.83 crore by siphoning off funds through entities linked to them.

"... as on March 15, 2022, assets worth Rs 19,111.20 crore have been attached under the provisions of PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act)," he said. Out of Rs 19,111.20 crore, assets worth Rs 15,113.91 crore has been restituted to the public sector banks.

In addition, the minister said assets worth Rs 335.06 crore have been confiscated to Government of India. "As on March 15, 2022, 84.61 per cent of the total defrauded funds in these cases have been attached/seized and 66.91 per cent of total loss to the banks has been handed over to banks/confiscated to Government of India," Chaudhary said.

The minister further noted that it is pertinent to mention here that as on March 15, 2022, the consortium of lenders led by the State Bank of India (SBI) has realised Rs 7,975.27 crore by sale of assets handed over to them by the Directorate of Enforcement.

As per the provisions under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) and Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 (FEOA) - that are applicable in the cases involving Mallya, Modi and Choksi - the court which is trying the offence can restore any property/assets involved in money laundering to a legitimate third party claimant, including banks.