PNB scam: IT dept attaches Gitanjali Group's SEZ property

The Income Tax (IT) Department on Thursday attached the special economic zone (SEZ) property of Mehul Choksi's Gitanjali Group in Hyderabad, sources at the department said.

As per the assessee's own valuation, the property is worth about Rs 1200 crore.

The IT department has attached 37 properties and 141 bank accounts/Fixed Deposits of the group, till date.The cumulative credit balance in these accounts is about Rs 145.74 crore.

For those unversed, the Punjab National Bank (PNB) detected a 1.77 billion dollar (Rs 11,400) scam, in which jeweller Nirav Modi acquired fraudulent letters of undertaking from one of its branches for overseas credit from other Indian lenders.

Modi's uncle Mehul Choksi is also being probed for his involvement in the fraud.

The scam started in 2011 and was detected in the third week of January this year, after which the PNB officials reported it to the concerned agencies.