PNB Scam: ED attaches Nirav Modi's assets worth Rs. 171.26Cr

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday attached bank accounts, properties and other beneficiaries worth Rs. 171.26 crore owned by absconding jewellery designer Nirav Modi under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 (PMLA).

On February 24 this year, the ED had provisionally attached 21 immovable properties belonging to Nirav Modi and companies controlled by him under the PMLA, with current market value of Rs. 523.72 crore. The said properties include six residential flats and ten office premises in Mumbai, two residential flats in Pune, one farmhouse in Alibaug, one solar power plant and 135 acres land in Karjat , Ahmednagar.

Earlier, the ED had registered a money laundering case against Modi this year under the provisions of the PMLA, 2002 on the basis of the FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under sections 120-B read with 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

It was stated in the FIR that Nirav Modi and others had committed the offence of cheating against Punjab National Bank (PNB) in connivance with certain bank officials by fraudulently getting the Letters of Undertaking (LOUs) issued in their three firms without putting any security and without following the prescribed procedure, thus causing losses to PNB.

On a similar modus operandi, the CBI registered another FIR on February 15 this year against Mehul Choksi and others, based on which another case was registered against Choksi under the provisions of the PMLA, 2002.

After further investigation, more properties and bank accounts beneficially owned by Nirav Modi were unearthed and based on the bank statements, property documents and statements recorded of the concerned persons, under Section 50 [2] and [3] of PMLA, 2002 and the money trail derived during the course of investigation, properties including 4 commercial premises in Mumbai and Surat( Present Market Value Rs 72.87 Crore),106 Bank Accounts ( Account Balance of Rs 55.12 Crore),15 Demat accounts( Rs 35.86 Crore) and 11 cars (Present assessed value Rs 4.01 Crore) worth value of Rs. 171.26 Crore [approx] (Market Value), in the form of movable and immovable properties, were provisionally attached under Section 5 of the PMLA, 2002.