ED seizes Nirav, Choksi groups shares worth `100-cr
The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday seized mutual funds and shares worth `100 crores of the Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi groups in connection with its money-laundering probe into the case. It also seized nine high-end luxury cars of Modi. As the searches at the groups' premises continued for the eighth day by ED, the income-tax department said property worth `1,200 crores of the Gitanjali Group located in the Special Economic Zone in Hyderabad has been attached.
ED sources said the agency had seized mutual funds and shares worth `86.72 crores belong to Choksi and his group, and the rest are owned by the Modi group. Choksi is Modi’s uncle and promoter of Gitanjali Gems and other jewellery brands. The probe agency also seized nine costly cars of Modi, recovered during raids last week. These include a Rolls Royce Ghost, a Mercedes-Benz, a Porsche Panamera, three Honda variants, a Toyota Fortuner and an Innova. Modi, Choksi and others are being investigated by multiple probe agencies after it came to light, following a PNB complaint, that they had allegedly cheated the nationalised bank of `11,400 crores, with the purported involvement of a few employees of the bank.
Meanwhile, the Punjab National Bank on Thursday asked disgraced diamond jeweller Nirav Modi to come up with a “concrete and implementable” plan to settle the `11,400-crore loss caused to it by the fraudulent issuance of Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) through one of its Mumbai branches.
Nirav Modi, who is under the scanner of various investigative agencies, failed to depose before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning on Thursday. ED sources said a fresh summons was issued against Modi after he failed to appear and depose before the agency. They added that Modi had replied to the ED’s investigating officer (IO), who is probing the role of the diamond merchant and his uncle Mehul Choksi, Gitanjali Gems’ promoter, in the PNB fraud case, and cited the temporary suspension of his passport and pending business issues as reasons for nonappearance. He has now been asked to join the investigation and appear before the ED in Mumbai on February 26.
The PNB, in its response to a mail written by Nirav Modi, said: “Your commitment and undertaking for sparing of the total liability was not backed by providing upfront amounts. However, should you have any implementable plan, do revert back.” PNB had told Nirav Modi that he was getting LoUs issued illegally and in an unauthorised way through a few bank officials.