#PNBScam : ED seeks information of businesses, assets owned by Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi from thirteen countries

NewsBharati    11-Apr-2018
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New Delhi, April 11: Taking a step forward in Rs 13,000 PNB scam, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday reached out to 13 countries to obtain information of the businesses and assets owned by diamond merchant Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi.

 

The Enforcement Directorate has sent letters rogatory (LRs) to the thirteen countries including Singapore, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Dubai, Belgium, the United States, Russia, France, China, and Hong Kong among others seeking information of the businesses and assets owned by diamond merchant Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi.

ED sent a letters rogatory (LRs) from a court to foreign courts seeking judicial assistance all the thirteen countries where Modi and Choksi are believed to have business interests in. After receiving information, the agency will probe the sources of income of foreign assets of Modi and Choksi.

Meanwhile, CBI has already started examining officials of overseas banks which had issued credit on unsecured letters of undertakings (LoUs). The probe agency also questioned former deputy governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Harun Rashid Khan in its probe. He was asked about the lapses in the statutory audit of the central regulator due to which the mega scam was remained undetected for a long time as the SWIFT messaging system was misused.

The development also comes one and half month after the biggest fraudulent case hit Mumbai last month where Punjab National Bank reported that it has detected fraudulent and unauthorized transactions in one of its branches in Mumbai. The cumulative fraud amounts stand to Rs 13000 crores.

After the scam was unveiled, the Enforcement Directorate registered an FIR under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and conducted raids after the surfacing of the alleged fraud by billionaire diamond trader Nirav Modi and his Mumbai-based firms Diamonds R Us, Solar Exports and Stellar Diamonds.

On the other side, the CBI also registered fresh FIRs against 10 directors of the Gitanjali Group of companies on charges of criminal conspiracy and cheating under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Prevention of Corruption Act, including Mehul Choksi, the Managing Director of Gitanjali Gems Ltd based in Mumbai's Walkeshwar. The FIR also named two former bank employees said to be directly involved in the fraudulent transactions.

Intensifying the probe, CBI sealed Brady House branch of Punjab National Bank in Mumbai from where the Rs 11,378.68 Crores PNB scam was originated. The action was based on EDs raid at over 45 more locations in 15 cities across India in connection with the multi-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam.

Importantly, Nirav Modi and his brother Nishal Modi left the country on 1st of January this year. Nirav Modi's wife, an American citizen, left India on 6 January while Mehul Choksi left the country on 4 January. CBI received a complaint from PNB on 29th Jan 2018and registered the case on 31st January.