PNB scam: Nirav's lawyer Vijay Aggarwal claims 'Modi didn't flee, was in abroad before matter came to light'

As per Aggarwal, the entire transaction was not worth Rs 11,500 crore as being stated by the media, but of two hundred crores. He claims that media is stating a fictitious figure.

Nirav Modi's lawyer Vijay Aggarwal breaks silence/ ANI image

New Delhi: Punjab National Bank scam’s Kingpin Nirav Modi didn’t flee from India but, was already abroad when the matter came to light, claimed his lawyer Vijay Aggarwal on Tuesday evening. “Nirav Modi has his business worldwide, and he was abroad before the matter was made public, therefore the claims that he fled are false” said the lawyer. In spite of his claims, he didn’t reveal the location of Modi. “His passport has been revoked, he will now see what to be done” he added. As per Aggarwal, the entire transaction was not worth Rs 11,500 crore as being stated by the media, but of two hundred crores. He claims that media is stating a fictitious figure. He further said that the matter is not as big as it being shown in media and is being unnecessary being escalated. “Like 2G, Bofors, Arushi murder case were proved false, similarly this matter would also come out like that. It was a normal business transaction and was declared as fraud” he said. The lawyer, who especially returned to the country for the case from Dubai said “His business has been seized and an amount of Rs5,600 crore have also been seized by ED, how can he return the money?” “Modi has been receiving notices from various agencies everyday but he will wait for court to file a charge-sheet before responding on anything”.

The CBI itself has represented that at the moment, the amount is Rs 280 crores, which may go up to Rs 5,000 crores. I don't know from where the media is getting the figure of Rs 11,500 crores: Vijay Aggarwal, advocate of Nirav Modi #PNBScam pic.twitter.com/HyalowjbLl

— ANI (@ANI) February 20, 2018

He hasn't ran away. He has a global business. He was already out on business purposes when this case came into light & now his passport has been revoked. His family, some of them foreign nationals, also stay abroad most of the time: Vijay Aggarwal #PNBScam pic.twitter.com/2pXzGMYecL

— ANI (@ANI) February 20, 2018

The entire matter was in knowledge of the bank. Bank took commission of crores of rupees but now they are not accepting it. It was a commercial transaction of the bank which is now portrayed as a fraud. Bank was provided with its share since many years: Vijay Aggarwal #PNBScam pic.twitter.com/yOYigK1i4P

— ANI (@ANI) February 20, 2018

The CBI on Tuesday arrested Vipul Ambani and four other senior executives of Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi’s companies in the Rs 11,500 crore PNB scam. Other than Vipul Ambani, CBI has arrested Arjun Patil, a senior executive of Fire Star group; Kavita Mankikar, executive assistant and authorised signatory of accused firms;  Kapil Khandelwal, CFO of Nakshatra group and Gitanjali group; Niten Shahi, manager of Gitanjali group.