FEO Bill to target ‘loot-n-scoot offenders

The Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2018 (FEO Bill), was approved by the parliament last month (July). The bill is expected to help the government bring back fugitives involved in white-collar crimes to stand trial in India.

This FEO Bill is a significant move by the Government of India against the rising trend of ‘loot and scoot’ among fraudsters. These fraudsters have duped the public sector banks of billions of rupees and scooted away to foreign shores. The bill will empower the government to seize both local and overseas properties, benami or otherwise, of these offenders who refuse to return to India to stand trial even after issuing arrest warrants against them.

The interim finance minister Piyush Goyal informed the Rajya Sabha that the FEO Bill will help authorities confiscate properties of fugitives even before they are convicted by a court of law. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, 28 Indians involved in financial irregularities have fled the country between 2015 and June 2018, including notorious ones such as Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and his brother Neeshal Modi, Mehul Choksi and former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi.