ED freezes shares and mutual funds worth Rs. 94 crore belonging to NIMO and Choksi
Mumbai, Feb 22 (IBNS) : The Enforcement Directorate has frozen share and mutual funds worth Rs 94.52 crore of the Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi groups while CBI has sealed a luxury property of the billionaire in connection with the Rs 11,400-crore Punjab National Bank fraud case, media reports said.
The ED, probing the money laundering charge against Modi and Choksi on Wednesday also seized nine luxury cars of Modi as part of its investigation against him under the criminal provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
According to reports, the cars that were seized include a Rolls Royce Ghost, two Mercedes Benz GL 350 CDIs, a Porsche Panamera, 3 Honda cars, a Toyota Fortuner and a Toyota Innova.
The body froze Nirav Modi's mutual funds and shares worth Rs 7.80 Crore and Rs 86.72 crore of those belonging to Mehul Choksi Group.
Choksi is a close relative of Modi and promoter of the Gitanjali Gems group and other jewellery‚ brands.
According to Times Now, after ED seized the cars, they also seized precious paintings owned by Nirav Modi which include works of Francis Souza, Amrita Sher-Gil, VS Gaitonde, Akbar Padamsee, Bharti Kher and M. F. Husain.
Meanwhile, the CBI on Thursday sealed a luxury property of Nirav Modi in Alibaug area near Mumbai, media reports said. , officials said.
The 1.5 acre farm house in the posh locality was purchased by Modi in 2004 for Rs 32 crore for hosting special parties for his clientele.
India’s second largest state-owned lender Punjab National Bank disclosed on 14 February that it was the victim of the country’s largest bank fraud. PNB revealed that fraudulent transactions by billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi and related entities amounted to $1.77 billion (or over Rs 11,000 crore).
In a complaint to the CBI, the bank said that Modi and the companies linked to him colluded with its officials to get Letters of Undertaking to help fund buyer’s credit from other overseas banks. The funds – ostensibly raised for the purchase and sale of diamonds – were not used for that purpose, PNB alleged.
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