Nirav Modi duped customers with fake pearls at steep prices: ED

Mumbai: Fugitive diamond businessman Nirav Modi used to sell cheap Chinese factory made pearls as natural sea pearls at jacked up prices to his customers. These pearls were one of the highest selling items of his firms, said Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials. The ED also found that most of these pearls were not even round in shape.

The diamond businessman would import cheap quality pearls and sell them at steep rates. He would hike prices by around 30 per cent and sell them.

Modi owns M/s Stellar Diamonds, M/s Solar Exports and M/s Diamonds R US, which imported pearls and diamonds and sold it not only in India but also overseas. The three companies procured Letter of Undertakings (LOUs) from the PNB fraudulently. PNB was defrauded to the tune of over Rs 13,000 core via 143 LOUs.

These companies are being investigated for their fraudulent operations and jacking up value of substandard goods and selling them at higher rate. “The pearls are cheap substitutes of what original pearls are and many were not even in a full round shape,” said an ED officer.

The ED has also moved in for getting the property and valuables of Modi seized from Hong Kong. However, the officials said that overseas seizures would take time as it depends on the cooperation of the concerned country.

Modi is currently on the run and has switched to multiple locations from USA to Hong Kong. Though sources in the ED refused to confirm, Modi is supposed to be travelling on a Singaporean passport and was last spotted in London.

The list of seizures now includes the wind farm owned by Modi, which used to sell electricity to Rajasthan state government for a profit of Rs 5 crores per year. The wind farm with four windmills located in Jaisalmer is worth Rs 52.8 crore and generates 9.6 megawatt power. The ED has attached properties worth Rs 7,600 crore belonging to Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, co-accused in the case.