I-T issues lookout notice against Nirav, Choksi to restrict their movement

On the request of Income Tax Department, a Lookout Notice/ Blue Corner Notice has been issued against Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi separately by the Bureau of Immigration, New Delhi in connection with multi-crore Punjab National Bank fraud case.

According to IT sources, the Lookout Notice/Blue Corner Notice would be valid for one year from the date of issue 22.02.2018 at all ports of embarkation.

The IT has further attached four more properties of Nirav Modi which includes a farmhouse at Mumbai's Alibag worth Rs 130 million and 5.24 MW Solar Power Plant with 135 acres of land at Karjat, Ahmednagar worth Rs. 700 million as per books.

Moreover, 34 more bank accounts of the Gitanjali group with the balance of Rs 14.5 million have been attached.

Meanwhile, Nirav Modi has refused to join Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe in connection with the PNB scam.

The CBI emailed Nirav Modi on his official id asking him to join investigations, however, in his reply the jeweller said that he will be unable to join the investigations owing to business abroad.

Following the response of Modi, the CBI sent him another mail asking him to contact the High Commission of the concerned country, for travelling back to India and made it mandatory for him to appear before the agency by next week.

Earlier on Tuesday, a Mumbai Court issued summons to Nirav to appear before it on March 12 in connection with the scam.

The court also made it clear that if Modi fails to appear before it, then a Non-Bailable Warrant (NBW) will be issued against him.

The PNB detected a billion dollar scam earlier this month, in which Nirav Modi acquired fraudulent letters of undertaking from one of its branches for overseas credit from other Indian lenders.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) provisionally attached 21 immovable properties, worth Rs 5.23 billion, of Nirav Modi and companies controlled by him.

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