ED seizes Nirav Modi's assets worth Rs 255cr

Mumbai: In the second set of recent attachments of assets of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi in connection with the multi-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued a provincial order pertaining to Rs 255 crore of his overseas properties on Thursday. The attachment of the said assets includes those valuables that were exported from Dubai to Hong Kong in 26
shipments.

ED officials said the valuables and jewellery have now been attached as per the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The said exports had taken place from Modi’s companies after the PNB had registered a case with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Following an investigation into Modi’s assets, the ED had tracked down these sets of valuables – diamond, pearls and jewellery— in the vault of a logistics company in Hong Kong. The trail of these valuables further led to the identities of the owner, the consignee and the shipper. Officials  said the said assets were assessed with the help of an independent valuer and then attached.

“With the process completed, a court order will be sent to Hong Kong stating the formalisation of the attachment. The total attachment in the case has now reached Rs 4,744 crore,” said an ED officer.

The ED and the CBI, along with the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), are all investigating the business frauds of Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi. While the agency has filed a chargesheet against Modi, the investigators are yet to nail the accused, as he has been changing his location using passports of multiple nationalities that he possesses.

Modi allegedly duped PNB to the tune of over Rs 14000 crore. On October 1, the ED attached Modi and his family’s assets worth Rs 637 crore. The assets included one of the properties in Central Park South in New York that was in the name of Central Park Real Estate LLC, a group company of Firestar cluster. In 2018 it was transferred to the trust Firestar Diamond Inc, a beneficiary of stolen bank funds and paid a mortgage taken on this property from HSBC Bank.

ED officials said the beneficiary of the Ithaca Trust is Ami Modi (Modi’s wife) and her children. The settler of the trust is Purvi Modi (Modi’s sister). In all, five separate provisional attachment orders had to be issued for attaching the properties and bank accounts, whereas the jewellery brought from Hong Kong was seized under panchnama. Diamond studded jewellery worth Rs 22.69 crore was brought back to from Hong Kong in 23 shipments.