The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has initiated steps to confiscate 16 properties linked to arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari after a Delhi court declared him a fugitive economic offender (FEO) on July 5, officials familiar with the matter said.
Twelve of the identified properties are located in India, mainly across upscale neighborhoods in Delhi and surrounding areas. These include real estate in South City-1 and DLF Phase 1 in Gurugram, Jaypee Greens in Noida, and several in Delhi’s Shahpur Jat, Hauz Khas, Vasant Vihar, Panchsheel Park, and Greater Kailash.
According to an ED officer, the total declared value of these properties is around ₹31 crore, although actual market prices are likely higher. Some of these assets were purchased in the early 2000s under the names of Bhandari’s family members or companies.
In addition to the domestic holdings, Bhandari owns two high-value properties in London—12 Bryanston Square and Flat 6, Grosvenor Hill Court. The ED has previously linked the Bryanston Square property to Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, alleging it was renovated under Vadra’s instructions and that he stayed there multiple times. The property has since been sold, reportedly without disclosure to Indian tax authorities.
Two additional properties in the UAE, located at Palm Jumeirah and Burj Khalifa, are also under scrutiny. Officials estimate that the total value of the four overseas properties runs into several million dollars.
The ED has submitted the list of all 16 properties to the court and is awaiting confiscation orders.
Beyond real estate, the agency has also traced ₹54.64 lakh in Indian bank deposits, 19 bank accounts in the UAE, and ₹5.81 crore worth of cash and jewelry seized during earlier Income Tax raids in 2016.
The ED and the Income Tax department allege that Bhandari concealed foreign income worth ₹655 crore and evaded taxes amounting to ₹196 crore.
He’s facing accusations that from 2009 to 2016, he used a network of fake overseas companies to move large sums of money. And what did he do with it? He allegedly bought up assets in places like the UK and the UAE.
But that’s not all. Since 2019, India’s top investigative agency, the CBI, has also been on his case. They’re digging into his involvement in a huge 2009 deal to buy trainer aircraft from a Swiss company called Pilatus, a contract worth nearly ₹3,000 crore.
Bhandari fled India in 2016 through Nepal. An Interpol red notice was issued in October 2017. Two extradition requests were later certified by UK authorities. He was arrested in London in July 2020, but later released on bail during the proceedings.
A Westminster Court ordered his extradition in November 2022, but Bhandari appealed the decision. The UK High Court discharged him in February 2024, and the Indian government’s appeal against that decision was rejected in April.
With the extradition route now closed, Indian authorities moved to have Bhandari declared a fugitive under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018. This designation allows the ED to seize his assets without a conviction and bars him from initiating or defending civil litigation in India.
The ED is expected to proceed with formal confiscation of all identified assets in the coming weeks.
