NEW DELHI: The Finance Ministry is considering amendment of laws to manage seized assets of economic offenders as the number of such assets are increasing and investigating agencies are demanding allocated budget and manpower to maintain them.
“In the last few weeks, there is a huge surge in the number of seized assets. With the Fugitive Economic Offernders Bill, the number will go up. It will be a huge problem to maintain such assets. The investigative agencies, including Enforcement Directorate (ED), have raised the issue with the (Finance) Ministry. It is considering to amend its existing law to maintain such assets,” a senior official with the ministry told TNIE.
Earlier this month, the government tabled the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill to give authorities the power to impound the assets of those who have fled the country after committing an economic offense. However, as the number of such seized assets have gone up drastically, investigative agencies are clueless on how to manage it.
According to sources in the ED, some assets they have seized are lying vacant, and as there is no maintenance, its quality has suffered. The Finance Ministry had earlier suggested putting some of the properties on rent, so that at least some money can be raised, but the ED complains they have no expertise and budgetary resources to do so.
“We cannot be blamed for the lack of maintenance. Our hands are already full with so many cases. We cannot take the additional burden of maintaining these properties, which includes large land parcels, flats, bungalows, shops, factories and many more. The government has to find some way to do so,” the official said.
In order to resolve the issue, the Finance Ministry, on March 13, approached the National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) and asked them if they can handle the task of maintaining, managing and earning revenue from such immovable properties attached in money-laundering cases. The meeting was chaired by Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia, officials of the Finance Ministry, Enforcement Directorate chief Karnal Singh and NBCC Chairman-cum-Managing Director Anoop Kumar Mittal. However, no concrete conclusion was drawn at the meeting.
The properties seized, frozen or confiscated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act include those of businessmen Vijay Mallya, Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi and many more.
The latest discussions could pave the way for NBCC to get similar contracts from intelligence and police establishments, the sources said.