ED freezes Nirav Modi’s bank deposits and shares worth Rs 44 cr, and a huge collection of imported watches (ANI Twitter)
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday seized diamond jeweller Nirav Modi’s bank deposits and shares worth Rs 44 crore in connection with the Rs 11,400 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case.
Officials said they have put freeze orders on bank accounts containing Rs 30 crore and shares worth Rs 13.86 crore of the group under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
A huge collection of imported watches, 176 steel almirahs, 158 boxes and 60 other containers have been seized during ED searches at multiple locations linked to the billionaire diamond jewellery designer over last week, they said.
The agency had yesterday frozen shares and mutual funds worth Rs 100 crore Modi and promoter of Gitanjali Group Mehul Choksi in connection with the case. At least nine luxury cars, belonging to Modi, were also seized as part of the investigation under PMLA.
The cars seized include a Rolls Royce Ghost, a Mercedes Benz, a Porsche Panamera, three Honda variants, a Toyota Fortuner and an Innova. READ MORE
Earlier on Wednesday, the Income Tax (IT) department attached Rs. 145.74 crore found in several bank accounts belonging to Modi. Till date, the IT department has attached a total of 141 bank accounts/Fixed Deposits of the group.
The arrested CBI officials had yesterday told the agency that practice of illegally issuing Letters of Understanding (LoUs) and Foreign Letter of Credits (FLCs) and then rolling them over to favour Modi and Mehul Choksi groups started in 2008 and continued till these were discovered in January this year.
The CBI and the ED have registered two FIRs each to probe the case. Both Modi and Choski are said to have left the country before criminal cases were lodged against them.
(With PTI inputs)
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- Puran Singh PaneserFeb 23, 2018 at 4:33 pmWonder WHY are the agencies boasting of scesures of less than even 1 of the value usurped by the culprits, ITS TOO LESS TOO LATE. Take action against all higherups ALSO who were required to keep a tab on day to day transactions. AND ALSO AGAINST ALL OTHER BANKS INVOLVED IN THE LOOT.Reply
- Feb 23, 2018 at 4:13 pmAll the frozen assets are pittance compared to the 11,400 crores! None especially is to be blamed as almost 80 to 85 of Indians are corrupt to the core. Hamara Bharat mahaan. Hello readers, away from the theme, irrespective of your political affiliation and for publicity purpose, may I take the liberty of inviting you all to watch my video - Homage to Pandit Nehru by p g joseph - in . It is a 20 plus minute tribute to the Architect of Modern India. Readers, please view the video at your leisure whenever you have that much time.Reply
ASHOKFeb 23, 2018 at 1:31 pmIndia’s wilful defaulters owe more than Rs 1 lakh crore to banks'"Between 2013 and 2017, the amount has quadrupled from Rs 28,417 crore to over Rs 1.1 lakh crore" This "Neech Goverment" is only for the Rich and the Famous. Pure "Bakhwas"'Reply
