The Central Government gave important information in the Lok Sabha on Monday, in which it was told that a total of 15 people have been declared Fugitive Economic Offenders under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply that in nine of these cases, public sector banks have suffered huge financial losses, the total amount of which is ₹26,645 crore. According to the minister, banks have so far recovered ₹31,437 crore from accounts linked to FEOs. Although most of this recovery has come through enforcement actions, property seizures, auctions and other legal measures, ₹19,187 crore is still not recovered.
The special thing is that only two fugitive economic offenders associated with Sandesara Group have made one-time settlement (OTS) with banks. These include Indian Bank’s settlement of ₹244 crore (discount of ₹298.67 crore) and Punjab National Bank (Sterling SEZ)’s settlement of ₹365 crore (discount of ₹389.57 crore).
Meanwhile, big economic offenders like Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya and the Sandesara brothers have not yet participated in any settlement process. The ministry also clarified that the government is not planning to put potential economic offenders on a “pre-departure ban list” before they leave the country. Right now, the government is relying on existing mechanisms like look-out circulars, PMLA and FEOA.
Banks have outstanding loans worth thousands of crores of rupees
The list submitted by the government includes the names of big economic criminals like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Sandesara brothers. Thousands of crores of rupees are owed to banks in these cases. The FEOA law was created to prevent economic offenders from fleeing abroad and to freeze their assets. It is considered to be the strictest economic offenses law of India, under which a person declared FEO cannot claim Indian citizenship until he returns to the country.
