NEW DELHI: As many as 53 people—including beleaguered liquor baron Vijay Mallya—booked under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act by the ED are absconding, the government said today.
However, the Ministry of External Affairs “has not received any request” from the Enforcement Directorate or the Ministry of Home Affairs for the extradition of these people under the PMLA, V K Singh, the Minister of State in the MEA, said in a written response to a question in the Rajya Sabha.
The CBI is already seeking Mallya’s extradition from the United Kingdom under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the ED is supplementing the case.
Parliament was also informed that prosecution has been initiated in 370 cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and two persons have been convicted in the past 10 years.
The Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, came into effect from July 1, 2005.
"2,260 cases have been registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act during the last 10 years. Out of these, prosecution has been filed in 370 cases and two persons in two cases have been convicted for the offence of money laundering," Jaitley said in the Lok Sabha.
The minister further said amendments were carried out from time to time to widen the scope of the PMLA to expand the definition of proceeds of crime and the like. "In 2009, a number of scheduled offences were introduced under the Schedule appended to the PMLA," Jaitley said.
The minister further said the definition of Proceeds of Crime (POC) was further expanded in 2015 to enable the directorate concerned to attach equivalent value of property of the accused in India if the POCs have been transferred out of the country.