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Fifteen radical person been declared wanted by assorted courts nether the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA) arsenic of October 31, 2025, 9 of whom are linked to large-scale fiscal frauds against nationalist assemblage banks, the Finance Ministry informed the Lok Sabha connected Monday (December 1, 2025).
Two fugitive economical offenders person opted for a one-time settlement. The cumulative rule magnitude arsenic connected the day erstwhile the loans associated with the 15 fugitives were declared non-performing assets was ₹26,645 crore. The interests accrued till October 31, 2025, amounted to ₹31,437 crore. While ₹19,187 crore was recovered, the colony magnitude stood astatine ₹1,630 crore with ₹3,542 crore arsenic discounts offered.
In a written reply to a query from subordinate Murari Lal Meena, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said the database of fugitive offenders included Nirav Modi; Vijay Mallya; Nitin Sandesara, Chetan Sandesara, and Dipti C. Sandesara of the Sterling Group; Hitesh Kumar; Narendrabhai Patel; Sudharshan Venkataraman and Ramanujam Sesharathinam of Zylog Systems Limited; and Pushpesh Kumar Baid.
Nitin and Chetan Sandesara person settled definite dues with Indian Overseas Bank, Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India, and State Bank of India.
About a week ago, the Supreme Court directed the quashing of each transgression proceedings against the Sandesara brothers successful the Sterling Biotech slope fraud case, provided they deposit ₹5,100 crore arsenic a “full and last payment” to the lender banks. “If the petitioners (Sandesara brothers) are acceptable to deposit the magnitude arsenic settled successful the one-time colony (OTS), and nationalist wealth comes backmost to the lender banks, the continuation of the transgression proceedings would not service immoderate utile purpose,” the Bench observed.
Responding to different query from subordinate Shatrughan Prasad Sinha, the Ministry said that since June 2014, 120 radical had been convicted nether the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had registered 6,312 cases nether the Act and filed 1,805 main prosecution complaints and 568 supplementary complaints arsenic of October 31, 2025.
Following an amendment to the instrumentality successful August 2019, the ED is required to taxable closure reports earlier a Special Judge nether the Act. Since then, the bureau has filed closure reports successful 93 cases wherever nary offence of wealth laundering was established, including cases wherever the predicate offence had been quashed.
“Prior to this amendment, cases wherever nary money-laundering offence was made retired were closed with the support of the determination Special Director of Enforcement. Accordingly, from the inception of the PMLA connected July 1, 2005, up to July 31, 2019, a full of 1,185 cases were closed,” the Ministry stated.
