Jewels belonging to Choksi, Nirav Modi brought back

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday brought back 108 consignments of polished diamonds, silver jewellery and pearls worth ~1,350 crore declared value belonging to diamantaire Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi from Hong Kong, officials said, adding that it was one of the biggest seizures from abroad.

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday morning brought back 108 consignments of polished diamonds, silver jewellery and pearls worth ~ 1,350 crore declared value belonging to diamantaire Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi from Hong Kong, officials said, adding that it was one of the biggest seizures from abroad.

The agency said that the consignments weighing around 2,340kg were seized in July 2018 with the help of Hong Kong authorities on specific information and was brought to Mumbai on Wednesday after completing legal formalities.

The consignments were sent from Dubai to Hong Kong by the accused in July 2018, the time when the investigation against them was at its peak and they were trying to dispose of their assets, said the officials cited above.

“The authorities were engaged in discussion with various authorities in Hong Kong to bring back these valuables. Various modalities were finalised and after completing all the legal formalities these consignments have now been brought back to India,” a statement by the ED said.

The agency will get the jewellery valued independently considering Modi and Choksi used to overvalue all their items in the retail market. “We believe that it won’t fetch more than ~150 crore in the Indian market,” said an officer, who didn’t wish to be named.

“Value of these goods has been declared to be ~1,350 crore (approx). These include polished diamonds, pearls, pearl and silver jewelry and were kept in the godown of a logistics company in Hong Kong,” an official statement from the agency said.

A second officer lauded Hong Kong authorities for their cooperation in the case. “We have had great cooperation from agencies in Hong Kong, who have not only allowed us to seize and bring the valuables to India but shared crucial information about their companies too,” the second officer said. Modi and Choksi’s lawyer Vijay Aggarwal refused to comment.

THE CONSIGNMENTS WEIGHING AROUND 2,340KG WERE SEIZED IN JULY 2018 WITH THE HELP OF HONG KONG AUTHORITIES ON SPECIFIC INFORMATION