PNB scam: Nirav Modi replied to CBI, will take time to return, says lawyer

'He'll take time to come back as there are security concerns and he's managing his business abroad', said Nirav Modi's lawyer

The lawyer of businessman Nirav Modi on Saturday said that his client has sent a response to the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) summon, stating that he will take time to return to India as there are security concerns.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday sent fresh summons to Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi to join the investigation as early as possible and cooperate.

"My client Nirav Modi has sent a response to the CBI. He will take time to come back as there are security concerns and my client is also managing his business abroad," Modi's lawyer Vijay Aggarwal told ANI.

"I do not consider this as a scam," Aggarwal added.

Enforcement Directorate (ED) had provisionally attached 21 immovable properties, worth Rs 5.24 billion (Rs 523.72 crore), of Nirav Modi and companies controlled by him.

According to the sources in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the passports of Gitanjali Gems Chairman and Managing Director Mehul Choksi and his nephew, famous jeweller Nirav Modi have been revoked.

The passports have been revoked as they failed to respond to MEA's show cause notice.

Modi and Choksi, whose locations are not known, are wanted in India for their alleged involvement in siphoning off money from the PNB to the tune of more than Rs 110 billion (Rs 11,000 crore).

The scam, allegedly started in 2011, was unearthed last month, after which the PNB officials reported it to the concerned agencies.