Fraud-hit PNB to have claim on US assets of jeweller Nirav Modi, says court

On February 26, the government had filed a petition in the US court against bankruptcy proceedings of Modi and sought to make PNB a party to the sale of any assets of his entities

As part of the United States Bankruptcy Court's summon order to diamantaire Nirav Modi and his aides on Friday, the Punjab National Bank (PNB) has been made a party to the sale of all of Modi's assets in the US.

The court recognised PNB's claim on the proceeds of any asset sold by US debtors of Modi's entities, with an order including a signed stipulation recognizing PNB's agreement with the Chapter 11 Trustee that proceeds of any asset sales by the US debtors will be subject to PNB's claims of constructive trust regarding Modi.

Apart from Modi, the court also issued summonses to Mihir Bhansali, Rakhi Bhansali, Ajay Gandhi and Kunal Patel in connection with the multi-billion PNB scam.

On February 26, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) had filed a petition in the US court against bankruptcy proceedings of Modi and sought to make PNB a party to the sale of any assets of his entities.

This is the first time that the MCA has intervened in any such foreign case pertaining to an Indian company.

Speaking to ANI, a PNB official confirmed that this order was a big victory for them.

On July 26, a Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Mumbai had issued summons against Modi and his uncle Choksi in connection with the PNB fraud case and had asked them to appear before it in September or be declared as Fugitive Economic Offenders.

Also, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), in a charge sheet filed on June 28, the details of which recently surfaced, labelled chairman of Gitanjali Group, Mehul Choksi as the "mastermind" behind the PNB fraud case, calling it a "huge economic scam brewing since 2015."

The PNB had detected the multi-billion scam earlier this year wherein Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi had allegedly cheated the bank to the tune of USD 2 billion, with the purported involvement of a few employees of the bank.