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The Union government has announced that 15 people, including Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi, are now classified as Fugitive Economic Offenders (FEOs) as of October 31, 2025. This information was shared by Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary during the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament on Monday. This announcement came in answer to a question posed by Congress Member of Parliament Murari Lal Meena from Dausa, during the Winter Session. According to the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act of 2018 (FEOA), these offenders together owe ₹58,082 crore to around twelve public banks. This total includes ₹26,645 crore as the main amount noted at the time of NPA and ₹31,437 crore as interest that has built up from that point until October 31, 2025. The government stated that ₹19,187 crore has been recovered from these offenders as of October 31, 2025.
Meena had asked the Finance Minister in Lok Sabha for the number of people labeled as fugitive economic offenders up to now under the FEOA, particularly concerning significant financial frauds against public sector banks.
"Out of the 15 offenders, nine are part of major fraud cases against public sector banks. The group includes well-known figures like Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi," Chaudhary mentioned in response accessible on the Lok Sabha website. Mallya is charged with a fraud exceeding ₹9,000 crore taken from a group of Indian public banks for Kingfisher Airlines, which is no longer operating. On the other hand, Nirav and his uncle Mehul Choksi are linked to a ₹13,000 crore scam affecting Punjab National Bank (PNB), one of the largest banking frauds in India's history.
The government introduced the FEO Act in 2018 to prevent economic offenders from escaping Indian law by staying outside the reach of Indian courts. This law allows authorities to seize and attach the earnings from crimes and assets when the involved money surpasses ₹100 crore. The individuals listed as Fugitive Economic Offenders include: Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, Nitin J Sandesara, Chetan J Sandesara, Dipti C Sandesara from the Sterling Biotech fraud case, Sudharshan Venkatraman, Ramanujam Sesharathnam, former promoters of Zylog Systems Ltd, Pushpesh Kumar Baid, and Hitesh Kumar Narendrabhai Patel.
Last week, the Supreme Court ordered that all legal actions against the Sandesara brothers regarding the Sterling Biotech bank fraud be canceled, on the condition that they pay ₹5,100 crore as a “final and complete payment” to the banks they owe. “If the Sandesara brothers agree to pay the amount as arranged in the one-time settlement, and public funds are returned to the banks, then continuing with the criminal cases would not be beneficial,” stated the Court. When questioned if the government was creating a plan to stop such wrongdoers from fleeing the country in the future, either by using legal restrictions or watchlists, Pankaj Chaudhary mentioned that there is no such plan being worked on at this time.
