Former ED officer Satyabrata Kumar who probed Nirav Modi, Mallya cases takes voluntary retirement

New Delhi: Satyabrata Kumar, former ED special director and lead investigator in some of the most high-profile money laundering cases including those against Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya and the Mahadev online betting app, has taken voluntary retirement from service (VRS).

The 2004-batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer of the Customs and Indirect Taxes cadre was posted as Commissioner (Appeals) in West Bengal's Siliguri after he was repatriated from the ED, exactly a year back.

He had served in the enforcement Directorate (ED) for nearly 12 years, making him one of the longest-serving officers on deputation in the agency.

According to officials, 48-year-old Kumar was granted approval by the Union government to proceed on VRS in April, and formal orders were issued in this regard earlier this month.

The officer -- scheduled to retire in 2037 -- had about 11 years left in government service until he attained the superannuation age of 60 years, officials said.

Sources told PTI that Kumar has left government service to pursue personal pursuits.

Kumar led investigations into many high-profile investigations undertaken by the Mumbai-based western regional office of the ED, including the USD 2 billion alleged bank fraud case against diamond traders Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, the bank loan fraud case against liquor-baron Vijay Mallya, and a number of "sensitive" cases involving several Maharashtra politicos.

He was instrumental in the attachment of several foreign-based assets worth crores, deemed proceeds of crime, in the PNB fraud case.

The ED's western regional office under Kumar also probed the Mahadev betting app case in which links to various Chhattisgarh-based politicians and businessmen emerged.

This is the second time in less than a year that an officer has resigned from government service soon after leaving the ED.

In July 2025, Kapil Raj, a former ED joint director who supervised arrests of two chief ministers -- Hemant Soren and Arvind Kejriwal -- in separate money laundering cases, resigned from service 15 years before his scheduled retirement.

He belonged to the 2009-batch of the IRS (Customs and Indirect Taxes) and had served in the ED for eight years.

Raj resigned from service when he was appointed as additional commissioner in the GST Intelligence wing in Delhi.