PNB fraud: ED attaches Rs 29.75-crore assets of Nirav Modi
New Delhi, Sep 11: The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday said it has attached fresh assets worth Rs 29.75 crore of fugitive diamond trader Nirav Modi under the anti-money laundering law.
A provisional order has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach these assets that are in the form of bank deposits, land, and buildings, it said in a statement.
The agency, which has been probing Modi in the alleged USD 2 billion fraud against the Punjab National Bank for over five years now, has attached assets worth Rs 2,596 crore in India and abroad in the past.
Modi, 53, is presently lodged in a UK jail and has lost his extradition plea to India in connection with this alleged bank loan fraud case, which is also being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, both prime accused in the case, along with others are being probed by the ED on money laundering charges for allegedly perpetrating fraud in connivance with bank officials and by issuance of fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) at the Brady House Punjab National Bank (PNB) branch in Mumbai.
Modi was declared a fugitive economic offender by a Mumbai PMLA court in December 2019. He was arrested the same year in London.
The ED said movable and immovable assets of Modi and his associates amounting to Rs 692.90 crore have been "confiscated" under the provisions of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.
Also, assets to the tune of Rs 1,052.42 crore have been successfully restored to the victim banks -- PNB and consortium banks, it said.
"The extradition proceedings against Nirav Modi were initiated and are under progress in London, UK. Earlier this year, Nirav Modi applied for bail in a UK court but it was denied for the seventh time," it said.
The agency said an appeal was filed by Modi before the UK High Court against the bail order, which was later withdrawn. Currently, he is lodged in UK Jail.
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Pannun case: Indian enquiry committee visiting US on Tuesday
Washington, Oct 14: An Indian enquiry committee established to investigate the American allegations of the involvement of an Indian government official in a foiled plot to assassinate a US national will be visiting here on Tuesday, the US Department of State said on Monday.
"The Enquiry Committee will be travelling to Washington, D.C. on October 15th, as part of their ongoing investigations to discuss the case, including information they have obtained, and to receive an update from US authorities regarding the US case that is proceeding," an official media release said.
The Committee was established by India to investigate the activities of certain organised criminals and is actively investigating the individual who was identified last year in the Department of Justice's indictment as an Indian government employee who directed a foiled plot to assassinate a US citizen in New York City.
"Additionally, India has informed the United States they are continuing their efforts to investigate other linkages of the former government employee and will determine follow-up steps, as necessary,” said the State Department.
In November last year, US federal prosecutors charged Indian national Nikhil Gupta with working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York. Gupta, arrested in the Czech Republic in June last year, was extradited to the US on June 14.
India has denied the allegations but has constituted an internal investigations team to look into it.
