PNB fraud: ED attaches Nirav Modi’s properties worth Rs171 crore

Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials have further attached properties worth Rs171 crore of diamantaire Nirav Modi as part of its probe into the Rs13,000 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud.

ED had registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in February 2018 on the basis of two first information reports (FIR) filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in January 2018. CBI had alleged that Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi allegedly cheated PNB in connivance with certain bank officials by fraudulently getting the Letters of Undertaking (LOUs) issued to their three firms without any collateral and without following prescribed procedure and caused a wrongful loss to PNB.

During ED’s investigation, properties and bank accounts beneficially owned by Modi were unearthed. “The money trail derived during the course of investigation, led to the identification of properties including four commercial premises in Mumbai and Surat (worth Rs72.87 crore), 106 bank accounts (with account balance of Rs55.12 crore), 15 demat accounts(worth Rs35.86 crore) and 11 cars (present assessed value Rs4.01 crore) worth value of Rs171.26 crore. These properties are in the form of movable and immovable properties, and have been attached,” an ED officer said requesting not to be named.

Last week, the agency had seized over 34,000 pieces of jewellery worth Rs85 crore from Gitanjali Group, owned by Modi’s uncle Choksi.

Earlier, ED had provisionally attached 21 immovable properties (worth Rs523.72 crore) belonging to Modi and companies controlled by him on February 24. This included six residential flats and 10 office premises in Mumbai, two residential flats in Pune, one farm house in Alibaug, a solar power plant and 135-acre land in Karjat , Ahmednagar.

According to ED sources, till March, the agency had attached over Rs7,600 crore worth of assets of all the accused in this case.