Restitution to defrauded investors back in spotlight

The same day diamantaire Mehul Choksi was arrested in Belgium at India's request, Union minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary in New Delhi, handed over a bank demand draft of ₹515.31 crore to Justice (retired) DK Seth.

- Abhishek Sharan

MUMBAI: On Saturday, the same day diamantaire Mehul Choksi was arrested in Belgium at India's request, Union minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary in New Delhi, handed over a bank demand draft of ₹515.31 crore to Justice (retired) DK Seth. The latter is chairman of the Calcutta high court-appointed Asset Disposal Committee, and the money will be used to pay back defrauded investors in the over ₹17,520 crore Rose Valley Ponzi scam that has its roots in multiple states.

The recipients of this money will include 7.5 lakh people across the country who were duped by the Rose Valley Group that promised gullible investors land parcels and time share in hotels. Following investigation by the Enforcement Directorate, 3.1 million claims were registered with the high court-appointed Asset Disposal Committee.

While the ₹515.31 crore recovered is a relatively small amount, for Rahul Navin, director ED, the recovery was yet another step in the agency's efforts to recoup losses for duped investors and banks. Until July 2024, assets worth ₹15,200 crore had been restituted in three cases--the ₹12,500-crore Punjab National Bank case involving Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi, the ₹5,600 crore National Stock Exchange Limited case involving Jignesh Shah and the ₹9,200-crore Kingfisher Airlines bank loans cases against Vijay Mallya. All three cases were investigated by ED in Mumbai. But this restitution process has since been accelerated and transformed into a pan-India drive. In the last nine months alone assets worth ₹30,751 crore have been restituted in as many as 34 cases, say officers in the ED who requested they not be quoted.