The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is investigating 32 bank fraud cases involving 54 accused who have left the country, minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. The cases are being probed under the Prevention of Money-laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.Sharing details in a written reply, Chaudhary said that the agency has taken multiple steps to trace and act against the absconding accused. These include issuing Red Corner and Blue Corner notices, starting proceedings under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA), 2018, and seeking extradition from foreign countries.The minister said FEOA proceedings have been launched against 27 of the accused. So far, courts have declared nine of them as Fugitive Economic Offenders, leading to the confiscation of assets worth Rs 840.68 crore.He added that extradition proceedings are underway against 18 accused. Besides this, the ED has attached assets worth Rs 35,166.28 crore under the PMLA, of which assets valued at Rs 15,184.19 crore have already been confiscated.In another reply, Chaudhary said unclaimed deposits belonging to public sector bank customers and transferred to the RBI-managed Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund stood at Rs 62,683.19 crore as of June 30, 2026.He said the government and the Reserve Bank of India have introduced several measures to help rightful owners recover these deposits more easily. The steps are also aimed at reducing the existing pile of unclaimed deposits and limiting fresh transfers to the DEA Fund.The minister also shared details on complaints in the insurance sector. He said the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) tracks complaints related to mis-selling, unfair business practices and claim-related issues, including disputes over policy terms and exclusions.These complaints are monitored through the Bima Bharosa portal, an online platform where policyholders can file, track and monitor grievances.According to data available on the portal, 28,789 complaints related to unfair business practices, including mis-selling, were reported during 2025-26.On the country’s foreign exchange reserves, minister Chaudhary said that changes in the reserves are driven by several factors, including RBI’s buying and selling of foreign currency, income earned from investing the reserves, external aid received by the central government and changes in asset values due to revaluation.He said rupee’s value is decided by market forces and is not managed within any fixed target or band. RBI, however, keeps a close watch on the foreign exchange market and steps in whenever there is excessive volatility.The minister added that RBI sold $97.13 billion between February and May 2026.He added that India’s foreign exchange reserves remain comfortable by standard reserve adequacy measures. As of July 10, 2026, they were enough to cover 10.3 months of goods imports. At the end of March 2026, the country’s short-term debt, based on original maturity, was 21.6% of the foreign exchange reserves.
