Overview
- Iqbal was designated a fugitive economic offender by a special PMLA court in Lucknow, which also ordered three sugar mills confiscated at a combined value of about Rs 995.75 crore.
- The Enforcement Directorate told the court the mills were bought through shell companies using money from illegal mining and at prices it called grossly undervalued.
- The Fugitive Economic Offenders Act allows courts to confiscate assets of people who evade trial in cases above a set threshold, which investigators say helps cut off access to alleged crime proceeds.
- ED officials said Iqbal left India for Dubai after ignoring multiple summons, and a court issued a non-bailable warrant against him in November 2025.
- The order follows years of probes that began with a 2016 Supreme Court-directed CBI inquiry and led to a 2019 ED case, and ED officials in Lucknow said he is only the second person from Uttar Pradesh to receive this designation.