MUMBAI: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has attached assets worth Rs 19,312.20 crore of wilful defaulters like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi since May 2017 under PMLA, 2002. Out of which, assets worth `15,113 crores have been restituted to the public sector banks, said Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad said in a written reply to the question in the Rajya Sabha.
In a reply to a question, the Minister said that ED has informed that 515 fraud cases, including cases related to wilful defaulters have been recorded since May 1, 2017, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
As of December 15, 2022, in these cases, assets of `44,992 crores have been attached and 39 Prosecution Complaints (PCs) have been filed by the ED. “The RBI has informed that the total number of wilful defaulters having outstanding loans of `25 lakh and above in public sector banks was 8,045 as of June 30, 2017, and 12,439 as of June 30, 2022, whereas, in private sector banks it was 1,616 as on June 30, 2017, and 2,447 as of June 30, 2022,” he said.
“RBI said as of June 30, 2017, there were 8,744 suit-filed wilful defaulters and 917 non-suit-filed wilful defaulters in public and private sector banks, and as of June 30, 2022, the same stands at 14,485 and 401 respectively,” he added.