The Enforcement Directorate (ED) announced on Friday that it had seized gems and jewellery from companies linked to the fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi as well as bank transactions worth Rs. 253.62 crore. The agency claimed in a statement that all of these movable assets are located in Hong Kong, according to the report.
According to the enforcement agency, some assets of the Nirav Modi group of companies in Hong Kong were identified in the form of gems and jewelry 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).
According to a report by the news agency IANS, during the course of the PMLA investigation, some assets of the Modi group of companies in Hong Kong were discovered, including bank balances in accounts kept in Hong Kong and gems and jewelleries hidden in private vaults. These assets were provisionally attached through an instant attachment order for Rs 253.62 crore under Section 5 of the PMLA, 2002.
The agency had already levied a Rs 2396.45 crore attachment against the movable and immovable property of Nirav Modi and associates in India and overseas. With the most recent attachment, the ED's case against Nirav Modi now includes a total asset attachment of Rs 2650.07 crore.
"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.
Nirav Modi, 50, is currently jailed in the United Kingdom after losing his extradition request to India in connection with the USD 2-billion Punjab National Bank fraud case, which is also being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
