Applications filed by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) to declare wanted religious preacher Zakir Naik; businessman Mehul Choksi; Mahadev betting app mastermind Sourabh Chandrakar and his associate Ravi Uppal; Sukhwinder Kaur and Gurpratap Singh, daughter and son-in-law of PACL scam accused late Nirmal Singh Bhangoo; and Neeshal Modi and Nehal Modi, brothers of diamantaire Nirav Modi, as Fugitive Economic Offenders (FEOs) are still sub-judice before respective PMLA courts across the country.
Meanwhile, Mandeep Rana, one of the accused in the alleged multi-crore fake degree scam linked to Manav Bharti University in Himachal Pradesh, was declared a Fugitive Economic Offender on January 3, 2026.
A fugitive economic offender is an individual against whom a warrant for arrest has been issued in relation to a scheduled offence involving Rs 100 crore or more, and the person has either left India to avoid criminal prosecution or refuses to return to face trial.
The ED filed an application on February 5, 2026, before a special PMLA court seeking to declare Sukhwinder Kaur and Gurpratap Singh as FEOs. The application was moved by the anti-money laundering agency in connection with the large-scale alleged financial fraud involving a collective investment scheme operated by PACL Ltd and related entities. The matter remains sub-judice.
On February 4, the agency had filed a similar application against Neeshal Modi and Nehal Modi, both Belgian nationals and brothers of declared fugitive economic offender Nirav Modi, in connection with the Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam and related money laundering cases.
The ED had also moved similar pleas against Aditya Nanavati, a senior executive in the Firestar Group, managing operations for Nirav’s businesses in Hong Kong, and Sandeep Mistry, director of one of Nirav’s companies in Hong Kong. All four applications are currently pending sub-judice before the PMLA court.
Similarly, the ED had also moved an application on July 10, 2018, seeking to declare Mehul Choksi, former promoter of Gitanjali Gems and uncle of Nirav Modi, as a Fugitive Economic Offender. The plea has remained pending for nearly eight years.
Choksi had fled India in January 2018 before the PNB fraud surfaced. He later gained citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda and subsequently moved to Belgium for medical treatment. Recently, an Antwerp court of appeal formally advised the Belgian government to approve his extradition on six of the seven charges filed by India.
On September 23, 2019, the ED also moved an application before a special PMLA court seeking to declare the controversial televangelist Zakir Naik, a Fugitive Economic Offender. The application is currently sub-juidice.
Naik is currently believed to be living as a permanent resident in Malaysia. Indian authorities have been seeking his extradition since 2018 in connection with inflammatory remarks against minorities.
Similarly, on October 28, 2024, the ED had moved a special PMLA court seeking FEO status against Mahadev online betting app promoters Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal. These applications are also currently sub-judice before the court.
According to official data, proceedings under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA), 2018, have been initiated against 54 individuals till March 31, 2026, of whom 21 have been declared Fugitive Economic Offenders.
Some of these notable names are Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari, and the wife and sons of deceased drug smuggler Iqbal Memon alias Mirchi.
The FEOA was enacted on April 21, 2018, to deal with high-value economic offenders who flee the country to avoid prosecution.
The FEOA provides for the measures to deter the fugitive economic offenders from evading the process of law in India by staying outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts and to preserve the sanctity of the rule of law in India by denying them the enjoyment of proceeds of crime.
The Law Enforcement Agencies administering various schedule offences as defined under section 2(1)(m) of the FEOA, 2018 can send the references of such economic offender to ED to move the application under FEOA in the special PMLA court for the declaration of an economic offender as Fugitive Economic Offender and for attachment of the proceeds of crime under the provisions of the Act.
Thus, it is important to emphasise that the assets liable to be attached and subsequently, to be ordered for confiscation are not only limited to the direct proceeds of crime but also the benami properties, property equivalent in value or any other properties.