In a crack down on Nirav Modi the Enforcement Directorate attached immovable properties and assets worth Rs 637 crore, belonging to him and his family members and located in the countries including United Kingdom, United States.
The assets have been attached as part of five separate orders issued by the central probe agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA),
The agency, in coordination with its counterparts in foreign jurisdictions, got diamond-studded jewellery worth Rs 22.69 crores back from Hong Kong in 23 shipments. The jewellery had been shipped out after the CBI registered the case against Modi and others in January, said the Directorate.
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The jewellery had been kept in the vault of a private company in Hong Kong on behalf of Modi. The ED contacted the company and it’s London headquarters for securing their possession.
The agency has also attached a flat in South Mumbai worth Rs 19.5 crore, which is owned by Nirav Modi and his sister Purvi. It was bought in 2017.
An account in the name of a investment company in the British Virgin Island, and owned by Purvi Modi and her husband Maiank Mehta in Singapore, having a balance equivalent to about Rs 44 crore, has also been attached.
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The same action has been taken for five other accounts with a total balance of Rs 278 crore. The list of attachments include a London property worth about Rs 56.97 crore, and two others in New York, valued at a total of Rs 216 crore.
Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi are accused of duping the PNB of nearly $2 billion, with the purported involvement of a few employees of the bank.
While Choksi is currrently staying in Antigua and Indian authorities are trying to bring him under the provision of a law of the island nation which provides for extradition of a fugitive to a designated Commonwealth country, the whereabouts of Nirav Modi are not known.
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