Court issued non-bailable warrant to bring absconding Nirav, Mehul in cage

Mumbai, March 4: A special court in Mumbai has issued non-bailable warrants against diamond traders Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi in the alleged Rs 12,700-crore Punjab National Bank scam.

The court also allowed the ED's application seeking Letters of Rogatory to seven countries - Malaysia, Armenia, France, China, Japan, Russia and Belgium - in connection with the case.

The ED had earlier issued summonses to Modi and Choksi, both key accused in the scam cases, asking them to appear before the central agency. However, the two diamond traders, who are said to have left the country before criminal cases were registered, had failed to appear before the ED, prompting the agency to move the PMLA court for issuance of NBWs against them.

The court had already remanded Punjab National Bank's Retired Internal Chief Auditor Bishnubrata Mishra to CBI custody till the 14 March in connection with its money laundering probe into the PNB scam.

Choksi and designer diamond jewellery businessman Nirav Modi and others are being investigated by the ED and other probe agencies after the bank fraud recently came to light, following a complaint by the PNB that they allegedly cheated the nationalised bank to the tune of Rs 12,000 crore, with the purported involvement of a few employees of the bank.

The CBI and the ED have registered two FIRs each to probe the case. Both Choksi and Modi are said to have left the country before criminal cases were lodged against them. They have, however, denied any wrongdoing.

The ED, a central probe agency under the union finance ministry, is investigating if the allegedly defrauded bank funds were laundered and proceeds of crime were subsequently used by the accused to create illegal assets and black money.