30 overseas accounts of Nirav Modi identified

Investigation agencies have identified more than 30 overseas bank accounts linked to diamond merchant Nirav Modi in various countries, two of which have been frozen in Belgium.

It is learnt that the two Belgian accounts have a total balance of ₹26 crore in foreign currency. They were frozen on India’s request in view of the Punjab National Bank fraud cases.

Letter rogatory

Through a Mumbai special court, the Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday got an approval to send a letter rogatory (judicial request) to the United Kingdom.

The CBI has sought information related to the case from the United Kingdom and has also requested for the freezing of another account linked to Mr. Modi with the Barclays Bank, which is said to have deposits worth more than ₹9 crore.

“Over 30 such bank accounts have been identified so far and efforts are under way to freeze them, disallowing the accused from withdrawing the funds that are currently under investigation,” said an official. As part of the money laundering probe into the scam, the ED has identified 26 companies located in Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Russia, France, U.S., South Africa, Belgium and Armenia among other places.