PNB fraud: Singapore HC orders freezing bank account of Nirav Modi's family
New Delhi: The Singapore High Court has ordered freezing of bank deposits worth Rs 44.41 crore, kept in that country by PNB fraud accused Nirav Modi's sister and brother-in-law, as part of a money laundering probe in India, the ED said Tuesday.
The agency said the bank account is in the name of Pavillion Point Corporation based in the British Virgin Islands, a company that is "beneficially owned" by Purvi Modi and Maiank Mehta.
The couple are the sister and brother-in-law of Nirav Modi, who is currently under arrest in this alleged bank fraud case in London from where India is seeking his extradition.
The high court has put a freeze on deposits of USD 6.122 million (Rs 44.41 crore) following Enforcement Directorate's (ED) request on the ground that the money was "proceeds of crime" illegally siphoned off by Nirav Modi from the Punjab National Bank (PNB), it said in a statement.
It was, however, not known immediately when the order was given by the court.
The latest order comes a week after four Swiss bank accounts, holding deposits of Rs 283.16 crore, of Nirav Modi and Purvi Modi were similarly "frozen" by authorities in Switzerland as part of this case.
The agency had attached this bank account in Singapore as part of a provisional order issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) last year in September, along with the four Swiss bank accounts, and that order was confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority of the law in March this year.
The five overseas accounts then, as per the ED, had Rs 278 crore in deposits.
The ED, official sources said, subsequently made a request to Singaporean authorities to freeze the account and had sent official documents of the attachment order to be perused by the officials and the high court of that country.
In Singapore, the high court "exercises original and appellate jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases and it hears cases in the first instance as well as cases on appeal from the state courts".
The apex legal forum in that country is the Supreme Court, that consists of the high court and the court of appeal, and it hears both criminal and civil cases.
The ED, along with the CBI, is investigating Nirav Modi, his uncle Mehul Choksi and others for alleged money laundering and corruption to defraud the Brady House branch of the PNB in Mumbai to the tune of over Rs 13,000 crore.
Nirav Modi has been absconding since the alleged bank fraud, by far the highest in the country in terms of value, came to light last year.
The ED has also filed a chargesheet against Nirav Modi alleging that he laundered and diverted over Rs 6,400 crore of bank funds abroad to dummy companies that were under his and his family's control.
A total of 24 names were listed in the chargesheet, filed under section 45 of the PMLA. It includes Nirav Modi, his father Deepak Modi, brother Neeshal Modi, Purvi Modi, Maiank Mehta and the designer jewellers' firms -- Ms Solar Exports, Stellar Diamonds and Diamonds R Us.
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Rs 30,000 cr loss a month: Oil companies bleed as fuel prices on hold amid global energy spike
New Delhi (PTI): About Rs 700-1,000 crore loss per day. Rs 30,000 crore every month. India's state oil companies are quietly absorbing a massive financial hit to keep petrol, diesel and LPG prices unchanged even as global energy markets face a turmoil that is bigger than all previous crises combined.
While countries from Japan to United Kingdom have raised petrol and diesel prices by up to 30 per cent since the start of the West Asia conflict, fuel prices in India continue at two-year-old levels.
The war disrupted India's import of 40 per cent of crude oil (raw material for making petrol and diesel), 90 per cent cooking gas LPG and 65 per cent natural gas (used to generate electricity, make fertilizer, turned into CNG and piped to household kitchens for cooking), but state-owned oil companies have maintained uninterrupted fuel supplies with no rationing or shortage at any point in the last 10 weeks.
But this has come at a cost - Rs 30,000 crore under-recovery or loss every month for the three oil marketing companies - Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.
The under-recoveries - the gap between input costs and realised retail prices - rose sharply in March/April before tapering a bit. Daily under-recoveries during April were estimated at about Rs 18 per litre on petrol and Rs 25 per litre on diesel, translating into average losses of Rs 700-1,000 crore a day for OMCs, they said.
At a news briefing on developments in West Asia, Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said prices in the international markets, on which India relies to meet 88 per cent of its oil needs, have been volatile and supplies impacted.
Crude oil prices which were around USD 70 per barrel two months ago, are now at USD 120, she said. "It has been government's endeavour to keep prices stable so far and that there is no price increase for consumers," she said. "This has hit finances of OMCs... monthly under-recoveries are of the order of Rs 30,000 crore."
She, however, refused to say if retail petrol and diesel prices will continue to hold.
"As I said, the endeavour so far has been to see that there is no price increase," she said.
The three oil marketing companies (OMCs) have worked overtime to keep the supply lines running even when demand spiked due to panic buying.
The government intervention included excise duty reductions and absorption of part of the fuel cost burden. The special additional excise duty on petrol was cut to Rs 3 per litre from Rs 13, while excise duty on diesel was reduced to zero from Rs 10 per litre.
The under-recoveries would have swelled to nearly Rs 62,500 crore had the government not cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 10 per litre each.
The government, Sharma said, has taken a hit of Rs 14,000 crore a month in cutting the excise duty.
The Centre's effective absorption at peak crude prices was estimated at around Rs 24 per litre for petrol and Rs 30 per litre for diesel.
The February 28 strikes by the United States and Israel on Iran triggered a sharp escalation in West Asia tensions. Energy prices surged as the conflict widened and shipping risks intensified in the Strait of Hormuz - the shipping lane through which India and other countries imported crude oil, LPG and natural gas from Gulf countries. Tanker movement was disrupted.
The companies also faced additional costs from emergency crude sourcing, higher freight charges due to vessel diversions, elevated marine insurance premiums and refinery optimisation expenses. Despite these pressures, fuel and LPG supplies remained uninterrupted across the country.
The surge in crude prices and the decision to shield consumers from higher retail prices placed significant strain on OMC balance sheets and refining margins, sources said.
They added that the measures reflected a policy decision to prioritise consumer stability and economic continuity during a global energy shock.
Sources warned that a prolonged period of elevated crude prices could lead to higher working capital borrowings and force some recalibration of capital expenditure plans. However, investments linked to refining expansion, energy security infrastructure, ethanol blending, biofuels and transition fuels would continue with government backing, they said.
India's approach contrasted with measures adopted by several other economies, where fuel prices rose sharply after the conflict-driven energy shock.
Petrol prices increased by about 34 per cent in Spain, 30 per cent in Japan, Italy and Israel, 27 per cent in Germany and 22 per cent in the United Kingdom, according to estimates. Several countries also introduced rationing, conservation advisories, emergency relief packages or fuel caps.
In India, petrol prices remained Rs 94.77 per litre and diesel at Rs 87.67, with no rationing, mobility restrictions or supply disruptions, they added.
Sharma said the revenues that OMCs earn are used to buy crude oil, build infrastructure to process it into fuel and create channels that will take the fuel to consumers.
Their capex spending is all dependent on the revenues they earn, she added.
