INDIAN AGENCIES’ FIGHT TO BRING NIRAV BACK

MUMBAI: Diamond merchant Nirav Modi failed to appear before the special court designated under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) even as the six-week period granted by the court for the same expired on Tuesday.

Modi’s lawyers later obtained time till October 29 to respond to the plea of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking to declare Modi as fugitive economic offender under the new Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance.

The ED had sought to declare Modi a fugitive economic offender under the new law in order to confiscate his properties attached by the agency claiming it to be ‘proceeds of crime’ under PMLA. Modi has been facing charges of money laundering in connection with the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case.

Accepting the ED’S plea, the court had granted six weeks for Modi to appear before it, failing which the court would allow the application filed by the agency.

On Tuesday, the six-week period expired.

Following this, Modi’s lawyer Vijay Agrawal with Anshul Agrawal appeared before the court.

THE CASE

The case against Nirav Modi pertains to allegedly cheating the state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) through fraudulent issuance of Letters of Undertakings (Lous) and Foreign Letters of Credit (FLCS) of more than ₹14,000 crore

ACTION TAKEN

Earlier this year, CBI registered an FIR against Modi, his wife, brother and Choksi. On May 14, CBI charge-sheeted Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi separately

The charge sheets alleged Modi, through his companies, siphoned funds of ₹6,498.20 crore using the fraudulent Lous from PNB’S Brady House branch in Mumbai; Choksi allegedly swindled ₹7,080.86 crore, making it possibly the biggest banking scam in the country

The lawyers sought time to reply to the ED’S plea alleging that they were not given any documents and records to refer.

The agency on the direction of the court supplied all the copies of the documents and their

application to the team of lawyers representing Modi.

The court has given Modi’s lawyer time till October 29 to file a reply to the ED’S plea.

Meanwhile, a consortium of banks representing Punjab

National Bank, Union Bank of India and State Bank of India appeared before the court answering the notice issued by the court.

The court had called them as the banks have interest in the

properties attached by the agency.

PNB is a government-run bank which Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi are alleged to have defrauded to the tune of more than ₹14,000 crore.