PNB fraud scam: Massive setback for Mehul Choksi; Close aide Deepak Kulkarni arrested in Kolkata

Kulkarni was the director of Choksi’s dummy firm in Hong Kong and was arrested on Tuesday morning after he landed in Kolkata from Hong Kong.

ED officers of the Mumbai branch are expected to reach Kolkata later in the day to Kulkarni into custody. (Image: ANI)

New Delhi: In a recent development to the PNB scam pertaining to fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Deepak Kulkarni, an associate of Choksi on Tuesday morning. Kulkarni was the director of Choksi’s dummy firm in Hong Kong and was arrested on Tuesday morning after he landed in Kolkata from Hong Kong. A lookout circular was issued against him by ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) earlier. “Kulkarni was linked to the overseas businesses of Mehul Choksi, one of the main accused in the case, and the ED had notified a Look-out Circular (LoC) against him,” PTI quoted the officials as saying. Kulkarni was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and was expected to be produced before a court on Tuesday, the officials said, adding that the ED would seek his transit remand to take him to Mumbai, where the case was registered. He was a director in a Hong Kong-based "dummy" firm linked to Choksi, an official said, adding that the ED had named him in a charge-sheet filed against the fugitive jeweller earlier this year and a Mumbai court had also issued a non-bailable warrant against him. Mehul Choksi along with his nephew and diamond jeweller Nirav Modi and others are being probed under various criminal laws after the fraud came to light this year, following a complaint from the Punjab National Bank (PNB) that they allegedly cheated the nationalised bank to the tune of over Rs. 13,000 crore, with the purported involvement of some of its employees. Both Choksi and Nirav Modi are absconding since the case was registered by the ED and the CBI. ED officers of the Mumbai branch are expected to reach Kolkata later in the day to Kulkarni into custody. After fleeing India, Choksi has taken Antiguan citizenship.