National Fertilizers Ltd (NFL) today won a legal battle in a court in a European tax-haven Monaco which has directed the “repatriation” of Rs 60 crore parked in a bank there by a foreigner accused in the Rs 133 crore urea scam of 1995.
The Appellate Court in Monaco ordered that Rs 60 crore deposited by Turkish national Tuncay Alankus, who is facing trial in the urea import scam, was embezzled fund and has to be repatriated to the NFL.
The Paris-based attorney of Indian origin, Vijay Phadke, who fought the case for the NFL, said “The Appellate Court in Monaco has held that the money eventually will be repatriated in favour of the NFL.
“We have been successful in satisfying the court that the fund deposited in a bank in Monaco, which is safe tax haven, was the part of the urea scam,” he told PTI.
Phadke, who is on a personal visit to India, said the bank account of the Turkish national, who is on bail in the case in a Delhi Court, was attached long time ago.
When contacted NFL said, “this win in a foreign court is a landmark decision and will help in recovering the money“.
Besides Alankus, other foreign nationals charge sheeted in the case were Cihan Karanci and Brazilian national A E Pinto.