Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi's jewellery worth Rs 1,350 cr takes a U-turn to India!
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Mumbai, June 11: Looting the Punjab National Bank a couple of years back, Gitanjali diamond Group directors Nirav Modi and uncle Mehul Choksi had taken the heels off India. In a latest development to the case, the ED has brought back over 2,300 kg of polished diamonds, pearls and jewellery worth Rs 1,350 crore to India. The duo fraudsters were caught dispatching the jewellery to Dubai while they were being investigated.
"The agency has successfully imported from Hong Kong around 108 packages of jewellery and gems belonging to firms controlled by Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi. The two were planning to fly these consignments to Dubai from Hong Kong in 2018 while evading officials on their trail", the statement by investigators read.
The consignment included polished diamonds, pearls, pearl and silver jewellery. Investigators note that the entire shipment is valued at around Rs 1,350 crore and weighs 2,340 kg. Following tipoffs by intelligence agencies, the Enforcement Directorate launched an effort to persuade Hong Kong to import the jewellery to India so it could be officially seized in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) loan scam case.
ED brought back 108 consignments containing polished diamonds, pearls, pearl and silver jewelry etc worth Rs. 1350 Crores (approx) of various overseas entities of Nirav Modi & Mehul Choksi which were kept in the godown of a logistics company in Hong Kong.
— ED (@dir_ed) June 10, 2020
The packages have been brought to Mumbai, according to officials. Of the 108 consignments, 32 belong to Nirav Modi and 76 belong to Mehul Choksi. Nirav Modi, 48, and Mehul Choksi, 60, are accused in a scam involving fake guarantees in the name of state-run PNB to secure overseas loans. Both fled India in 2018, before the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) began investigations.
Both the businessmen are being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Nirav Modi was arrested last year in London and is fighting extradition to India from jail. In an attempt to recover some of what Nirav Modi owes banks, agencies auctioned much of his assets, including a Rolls Royce car, paintings of famous artists MF Hussain and Amrita Shergill, designer handbags and other luxury items.