The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday, July 16 said that a consortium of lenders led by State Bank of India has realized another Rs 792.11 crore by sale of shares belonging to Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, which were handed over to them by the ED. With this the total recovery from sale of assets of Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi now stands at Rs 13,109.17 crore, the ED said.
The assets have been seized by the Central agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The realized was handed over by the ED to the consortium of banks. Last month the ED had transferred assets worth Rs 9,371.17 crore belonging to these three people to banks and to the government. So far the organisation has attached properties worth Rs 18,170.02 crore (which is 80.45% of total loss to banks caused by these three people). The lenders have been trying to recover money from the three businessmen, who have been elusive for years now. It’s been nearly seven years since Rs 9,000 crore of loans given to Vijay Mallya’s grounded Kingfisher Airlines was tagged NPA (non-performing asset), while diamantaires Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi have caused losses nearly worth Rs 14,000 crore to Punjab National Bank (PNB). Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya have also been declared Fugitive Economic Offenders by a PMLA Court in Mumbai.
