ED Attaches Rs 29.75 Crore of Fugitive Diamond Trader Nirav Modi

The Enforcement Directorate attached assets worth Rs 29.75 crore belonging to fugitive diamond trader Nirav Modi under the anti-money laundering law. Modi and his associates face charges related to a USD 2 billion fraud against Punjab National Bank, with assets worth Rs 2,596 crore seized in India and abroad.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday announced the attachment of fresh assets valued at Rs 29.75 crore belonging to fugitive diamond trader Nirav Modi under the anti-money laundering law.

A provisional order was issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach these assets, which include bank deposits, land, and buildings, according to an official statement.

The ED has been probing Modi for over five years in connection with the alleged USD 2 billion fraud against Punjab National Bank (PNB). During this period, assets worth Rs 2,596 crore have been attached both in India and abroad. Modi, currently held in a UK jail, has lost his extradition plea to India for the same case, which is also under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Along with his uncle Mehul Choksi, Modi is a prime accused in the case. Both are being investigated for money laundering charges due to their alleged involvement in perpetrating fraud in connivance with bank officials by issuing fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) at the Brady House PNB branch in Mumbai.

Declared a fugitive economic offender by a Mumbai PMLA court in 2019 and arrested the same year in London, Modi has movable and immovable assets worth Rs 692.90 crore confiscated under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act. Assets totaling Rs 1,052.42 crore have been restored to victim banks PNB and consortium banks.

Extradition proceedings against Nirav Modi are underway in London. Earlier this year, his bail application was denied for the seventh time by a UK court. An appeal filed by Modi before the UK High Court against the bail order was later withdrawn, and he remains in UK imprisonment.