Fugitive Economic Offenders Act 2018

Polity & Governance glossary

Topic: Statutory, Regulatory and Quasi-judicial Bodies · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

The Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA) 2018 deals with people who commit big economic crimes and run away from India. A special court can declare a person a "fugitive economic offender" if all three conditions are met:

  • there is a warrant against them for economic offences worth ₹100 crore or more;
  • they have left India;
  • they refuse to come back to face trial.

The court can then confiscate (take over) their property. The Enforcement Directorate enforces this law.

Example

Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi were declared fugitive economic offenders in 2019.

Don't confuse with

  • PMLA 2002: PMLA punishes money laundering, and its cases depend on a predicate crime (the original offence that produced the money). FEOA is about seizing the property of offenders who have fled India.

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