New Delhi
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has returned assets worth Rs 22,280 crore to the victims or rightful claimants and the fight against economic offenders will continue.
Responding to the discussion in the Lok Sabha on the first batch of supplementary demands for grants for the year 2024-25, Sitharaman said that fugitive Vijay Mallya’s assets worth Rs 14,131.6 crore have been returned to the public sector banks.
He said that assets worth Rs 1,052.58 crore have been returned to public sector banks and private banks in the Nirav Modi case. According to the Finance Minister’s reply, assets worth Rs 2,565.90 crore have been seized in the Mehul Choksi case and will be auctioned.
He said that in the National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) case, assets worth Rs 17.47 crore were returned to genuine investors who were victims of the fraud.
He said, ‘In the PMLA case, the ED has successfully recovered assets worth at least Rs 22,280 crore in key cases… We have not spared anyone, even if they have fled the country, we are after them. ED has collected this money and given it back to the banks.
Sitharaman said, ‘Therefore it is important to know that we have not spared anyone who has committed economic crimes. We are after them. We will ensure that the money which is supposed to go back to the banks, comes back.
Responding to questions from some MPs regarding black money stashed abroad, the Finance Minister said that the Black Money Act of 2015 is actually having a deterrent effect on many taxpayers and they themselves are coming forward to disclose their foreign assets. He said the number of taxpayers declaring foreign assets has increased from 60,467 in 2021-22 to two lakh in 2024-25.
