Running scammers who have laundered billions to banks ...

- Since 2013, only two fugitives have been brought back to India

- When such fugitive economic criminals will come to India and how the banks will recover their loans is a big question.

Mehul Choksi, a fugitive economic criminal who suddenly went missing from Antigua and was later captured in Dominica, is currently under discussion as to whether he will be extradited to India. Not only Mehul Choksi, there are many such industrialists who have laundered crores of rupees from banks and fled abroad and are being repatriated to India. The incident has once again raised fierce demands for the extradition of fugitives who have fled abroad. When such fugitive economic criminals will come to India and how the banks will recover their loans is a big question.

The list of such businessmen is very long who have turned over crores of rupees to banks and fled abroad and are awaiting extradition to India. Apart from Mehul Choksi, Lalit Modi, Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Nitin Sandesra, Jatin Mehta, Sanjay Bhandari are the main names.

As per the information presented by the government in Parliament in February, the process of extradition of six fugitive criminals from different countries to India is underway. According to a 2016 RTI reply, only two fugitives have been repatriated to India since 2014.

Mehul Choksi

Mehul Choksi is the second main accused in the Rs 15,000 crore PNB scam and like Nirav Modi, he escaped from the hands of Indian agencies and went to Antigua overnight. But Mehul Choksi is being sought for extradition following his recent disappearance from Antigua and his recent arrest in Dominica.

Nirav Modi

Nirav Modi, a diamond trader, also fled abroad overnight after a Rs 15,000 crore scam at the Punjab National Bank came to light in 2014. This was the biggest scam in the history of Indian banking. Nirav Modi, who was hiding in London, was arrested by the local police. The Indian government has been in talks with London for the extradition of Nirav Modi since 2012. With Nirav Modi losing the case in a British court in April this year, obstacles to extradition to India were removed. The British government has also agreed to extradite India. But Nirav Modi has filed a fresh appeal in the court against his extradition to India.

Vijay Mallya

Vijay Mallya, the owner of the defunct Kingfisher Alliance, also fled abroad in March 2014 after committing a Rs 2,000 crore bank scam in India. Most importantly, he was a Rajya Sabha MP when he fled abroad. Mallya is currently in Britain and India has won all the cases for his extradition. But it is currently awaiting formal approval from the British government.

Lalit Modi

The credit for starting the IPL cricket match in India goes to Lalit Modi. He is accused of embezzling Rs 3 crore from the BCCI. He fled abroad before the ED could file a case against Lalit Modi. In October 2010, the BCCI had lodged a police complaint against Lalit Modi. However, there was no progress in the police investigation for seven years, which resulted in Interpol rejecting the CBI's request to issue a Red Corner Notice against Lalit Modi. India sought Lalit Modi's extradition a decade after he fled abroad. Lalit Modi is currently believed to be in London.

Jatin Mehta

Diamond trader Jatin Mehta has also fled India in a bank scam case. The Winsome Diamonds and Jewelery scam promoted by Jatin Mehta is said to be the third biggest bank scam after the fraud of Nirav Modi and Kingfisher's Vijay Mallya. Banks owe him more than Rs 200 crore. In 2014, Jatin Mehta fled Caribbean Iceland set kits from India with his family. He has been found to have migrated to the UK from set kits. However, in the year 2020, it was reported that he was living in the European country of Montenegro. He is believed to have created new companies.

Nitin Sandesra

Businessman Nitin Sandesara, his wife Dipti Sandesara and brother-in-law Hitel Patel have also fled abroad after committing a scam worth Rs 12,500 crore. The bank scam involves the Sterling Biotech Group, promoted by Sandesra. He fled India to Nigeria in 2014. In February, he filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court alleging that Nigeria and Albania had rejected India's extradition request in 2014. Nitin Sandesara was declared a fugitive by the Indian government last year.

Sanjay Bhandari

Sanjay Bhandari is a fugitive in a money laundering case and a high-profile fugitive. Sanjay Bhandari currently resides in Britain and is opposing India's extradition in a London court.

Sanjay Bhandari has been arrested after the UK government approved his extradition to India in 2020. However, he has knocked on the court door and has been granted bail in protest of the extradition move.