84.61% of Total Defrauded Funds Attached/Seized under PMLA and Fugitive Economic Offenders Act

· Consortium of Banks Realizes Rs. 7,975.27 crore by Sale of Assets

Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) and Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 (FEOA) provide that the Special Court trying the offence may restore any property/assets involved in money laundering to a third party claimant with legitimate interest, including banks. This was stated by Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on 22 March 2022.

The Minister stated that in the cases pertaining to Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi who have defrauded Public Sector banks by siphoning off the funds through their companies which resulted in total loss of Rs. 22,585.83 crore to the public sector banks.

Giving more details, the Minister stated that as on 15.03.2022, assets worth Rs. 19,111.20 crore have been attached under the provisions of PMLA. Out of which, assets worth Rs. 15,113.91 crores has been restituted to the Public Sector Banks. In addition, assets worth Rs 335.06 crore have been confiscated to Government of India.

The Minister further stated that as on 15.03.2022, 84.61% of the total defrauded funds in these cases have been attached/seized and 66.91% of total loss to the banks has been handed over to Banks/Confiscated to Government of India. It is pertinent to mention here that as on 15.03.2022, the consortium of banks led by SBI has realized Rs. 7,975.27 crore by sale of assets handed over to them by the Directorate of Enforcement, the Minister added.