12 cars of Nirav Modi, Choksi auctioned for Rs.3.29 cr

Twelve luxury cars belonging to absconding diamantaires Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi have been auctioned for Rs 3.29 crore, an ED statement said here on Friday.

The ED had last year attached the vehicles under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The vehicles were e-auctioned on Thursday through the Metal Scrap Trade Corporation Ltd following an order of the special PMLA Court last month.

Among the 13 vehicles put up for auction, 10 out of 11 vehicles belonging to Nirav Modi and his group companies were sold. Two vehicles owned by his uncle Choksi were also sold. The details of the one unsold vehicle have not been disclosed.

The government will earn revenues worth Rs 3,28,94,293 from the e-auction.

The vehicles put up for e-auction on Thursday yesterday included a silver Rolls Royce with a reserve price of Rs 1,33,00,000, a Porsche starting at Rs 54,60,000, a red Mercedes Benz starting at Rs 14,00,000, a white Mercedes Benz starting at Rs 37,80,000, and a BMW starting at Rs 9,80,000.

The list also included two Honda Brio cars, a Toyota Innova, a Honda CRV, a Toyota Fortuner, a Skoda Superb Elegance, a Toyota Corolla Altis and a Toyota Innova Crysta.

Of the 13 vehicles, the BMW and Toyota Innova Crysta belonged to Choksi while the rest were owned by Nirav Modi, his family and his group companies.

Nirav Modi and Choksi are accused in the Rs 13,000 crore fraud that involved companies owned by them raising finances against letters of undertaking issued by the Punjab National Bank (PNB). The duo fled the country before the scam came to light in 2018.

As part of the crackdown on them, the ED last month demolished Nirav Modi's palatial beach bungalow in Alibaug in adjoining Raigad district and auctioned off his artworks fetching around Rs 59 crore, besides attaching their homes, showrooms, plants and other properties in different parts of India.

Choksi has acquired the citizenship of Antigua and Barbados while Nirav Modi was arrested in London recently. India has initiated extradition proceedings against both of them.

--IANS

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