Assets Of Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi Worth Rs 19,111 Cr Seized: Govt Tells Rajya Sabha

The three fugitives have defrauded public sector banks by siphoning off funds through their companies resulting in a total loss of Rs 22,585.83 crore to the lenders.

New Delhi: Assets of more than Rs 19,111 crore relating to fugitive businessmen Vijay Mallya, Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi have been attached by the probing agencies so far, the government said on Tuesday in a written reply to Rajya Sabha during the Budget session. 

Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary informed Parliament that three fugitives have defrauded public sector banks by siphoning off funds through their companies resulting in a total loss of Rs 22,585.83 crore to the lenders.

"... 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)," news agency PTI quoted Chaudhary as saying in Rajya Sabha.

The minister also informed that assets worth Rs 335.06 crore have been confiscated to the 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.

According to government data, the consortium of banks led by SBI has realised Rs 7,975.27 crore as on March 15, 2022, by sale of assets handed over to them by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED).

Earlier in February, government had informed the Supreme Court that a sum of around Rs 18,000 crore was returned to the banks in the case of Mallya, Modi and Choksi, news agency IANS reported.

Vijay Mallya, chairman of the now-closed Kingfisher Airlines, who was ordered to be extradited by the British judiciary in 2019, is yet to be sent to India. 

Likewise, diamantaire Nirav Modi continues to fight a legal battle to avoid deportation. Unlike Mallya, though, he has been held in custody at south London's Wandworth prison since his arrest in 2019.

Meanwhile, Mehul Choksi had gone missing from Antigua in May 2021, sparking a massive manhunt. He was later captured in Dominica. He had left India on January 4, 2018, days before the CBI registered a case into the PNB fraud case. He along with his nephew Nirav Modi is wanted in the case.

(With inputs from agencies)