New Delhi: Bank deposits worth Rupees 253.62 crore along with gems and jewellery of companies linked to fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi have been attached by the Enforcement Directorate, said the agency on Friday, reported news agency PTI. In a statement the agency said that all these movable assets are in Hong Kong, the report stated.
Some assets of Nirav Modi group of companies in Hong Kong were identified in the form of gems and jewelleries lying in private vaults and bank balances in accounts maintained there and these have been provisionally attached under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the enforcement agency said, quoted by the news agency.
During the course of the PMLA investigation, some assets of the Modi group of companies in Hong Kong were identified in the form of gems and jewellery lying in private vaults and bank balances in accounts maintained in Hong Kong, which is provisionally attached vide instant attachment order of Rs 253.62 Crore under Section 5 of PMLA, 2002, a report by news agency IANS stated.
Earlier, the agency had attached movable and immovable assets of Nirav Modi and associates to the tune of Rs 2396.45 crore in India and abroad. With the latest attachment, the total attachment of assets of Rs 2650.07 crore has been effected in the case against Nirav Modi by the ED.
"Earlier in this case, 2 Prosecution Complaints under PMLA, 2002 have already been filed by the Directorate against Nirav Modi and associated entities before Special Court (PMLA). Simultaneously, the extradition proceedings against fugitive, Nirav Modi is at final stage in London, UK," said the official, quoted by IANS.
Presently lodged in a jail in UK, Nirav Modi, 50, has lost his extradition plea to India in connection with the USD 2-billion Punjab National Bank fraud case that is also being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation.