Vijay Mallya, who fled to the UK, is being probed by the ED and the CBI in connection with an alleged Rs 9,000 crore bank fraud.
The State Bank of India-led consortium on Friday received Rs 792.11 crore in the accounts of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, who was earlier attached under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, the Enforcement Directorate said.
Simultaneously, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) claimed that banks and the exchequer have recovered 58 per cent of the total frauds in the country’s two biggest criminal bank loan theft cases till date.
Besides the Mallya case, the second case pertains to an alleged bank loan fraud of over Rs 13,500 crore at the Brady House (Mumbai) branch of Punjab National Bank, which was allegedly carried out by diamond merchant Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi.
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“Today, SBI-led consortium has recovered Rs 792.11 crore from sale of shares in Kingfisher Airlines or Vijay Mallya case.
These shares were handed over by the Enforcement Directorate to the consortium, the central probe agency said in a statement.
These shares were earlier attached by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) as part of its criminal investigation in the case.
Last month too, the consortium of banks had recovered over Rs 7,181 crore after a similar sale of shares attached in the Mallya case.
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Mallya, who fled to the UK, is being probed by the ED and the CBI in connection with an alleged Rs 9,000-crore bank fraud involving the operations of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines.
The ED had earlier said that the 65-year-old liquor baron has lost his case against extradition to India and since he has been denied permission to file an appeal in the UK Supreme Court, his extradition to India has become final.
In these two cases, bank funds exceeding Rs 22,000 crore (fixed number of Rs 22,585.83 crore) have been termed as “fraudulent”.
“As on date, assets worth 58 per cent of the total loss suffered by the banks have been handed over to the banks or have been confiscated to deposit in the accounts of Government of India.
“It may be mentioned here that ED has attached/attached assets worth Rs 18,217.27 crore (in these two cases),” the ED said.
The three accused – Mallya, Nirav Modi and Choksi – fled abroad at different time periods as investigations against them by central probe agencies like the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) intensified.
Reacting to these developments, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a tweet last month said, “Fugitive and economic offenders will be actively pursued, their properties attached and dues recovered.
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