Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya, Iqbal Mirchi’s spouse Hajra Iqbal Memon, and sons Junaid Memon and Asif Iqbal Memon are among the many 14 people declared fugitive financial offenders within the final 5 years below the Fugitive Financial Offenders Act (FEOA) enacted in 2018, the Enforcement Directorate mentioned in its annual report.
Functions to declare Mehul Choksi, Sanjay Bhandari and Zakir Naik and Mahadev app proprietor Ravi Uppal fugitive financial offenders are pending with totally different courts, the report mentioned.
ED Director Rahul Navin mentioned the 2018 legislation was a big step in India’s efforts to fight financial offences, significantly these dedicated by people who believed that they may evade prosecution by fleeing the nation. “The ED filed functions to get 24 people declared as fugitive financial offenders till now, and 14 of them have been declared so,” he mentioned.
Others on the record of 14 are Sandesara Group promoters Nitin, Chetan and Deepti Sandesara; Hitesh Patel, an accused within the Rs 8,100-crore financial institution mortgage fraud linked to Gujarat-based Sterling Biotech group; Zylog Programs Ltd promoters Sudarshan Venkataraman and Ramanujam Sesharathnam, the report mentioned.
In keeping with the report, FEOA equips the ED to focus on people who flee the nation to evade prosecution for financial offences exceeding Rs 100 crore. “This operate addresses the rising problem of offenders like Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya, who abscond after perpetrating large-scale monetary frauds. The ED’s position consists of figuring out and confiscating their belongings, each home and worldwide, to stop the dissipation of proceeds of crime,” the report mentioned.
“The ED has confiscated belongings value greater than Rs 900 crore until now below the 2018 legislation and we’re planning to implement these provisions extra successfully in coordination with the police and different companies,” he added.
“Via motion below this Act, ED has been profitable in getting one particular person to return to the nation and becoming a member of the prosecution proceedings. Lately, non-conviction based mostly confiscation was added to the advice of the Monetary Motion Activity Power,” the report mentioned.
