What happens to Nirav Modi’s luxury chariots?

Last week, the Enforcement Directorate seized nine highend luxury cars of PNB scam accused Nirav Modi and his companies, as part of the investigation under Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The seizure of these luxury cars — a Rolls Royce Ghost, a Mercedes Benz, a Porsche Panamera, a Toyota Fortuner, a Toyota Innova, two Mercedes Benz variants and three Hondas — garnered extensive media coverage.

But ever wondered what will happen to these cars now? Will these luxury chariots of NiMo gather dust and rust at Samudra Mahal, where they are currently parked, or the agency will use these for official purposes?

Retired police officer Ramesh Mahale, who was the chief investigating officer in the 26/11 terror attack case, listed two options and told the Free Press Journal that ED can urge the court to give them the cars for office use.

“These are high-end luxury cars which will gather dust or eventually fall into ruin by the time the final hearing in the case takes place. So, the agency can urge the court to allow them to use the impounded vehicles strictly for office purpose. If the court grants them permission, the concerned agency will have to maintain these cars, which could be surrendered after the final verdict in the case,” Mahale told the Free Press Journal. It is to be noted that the CBI and the Mumbai crime branch had seized several vehicles of the accused in the 1993 bomb blast case. After court’s permission, the crime branch was using these cars for official purposes; the department returned the vehicles to the court after the court announced its final verdict.

Listing the second option, Mahale said that the agency can auction these cars to recover a fraction of the loss in the PNB fraud.

“The seized cars can be auctioned after court permission. As per the Income Tax Act, the value of a vehicle depreciates by 40 percent every year. The models of these vehicles need to be checked to fix the minimum price for auction and the money recovered should be deposited in the court; later, it can be placed in a fixed deposit,” said Mahale.

A retired officer from the Anti-Motor Vehicle Theft Cell of the Mumbai police, Abdul Rauf Sheikh, said the PNB, with the permission of the court, can claim rights to these cars to offset the loss it has incurred in the scam. Can Nirav Modi get back these cars?

“The seizure of these cars is a sort of recovery against the fraud amount. In a bid to recover the loan, the PNB can auction these cars with the permission of the court, where both the parties - the investigating agency and the opposite party (the accused) – need to be present. And if the opposite party agrees to pay for these cars, the court will give it to the accused,” said Sheikh.