26 October,2018 09:03 AM IST | Mumbai | Rahul Mahajani
Diamantaire Nirav Modi, along with his uncle Mehul Choksi, is wanted in the Rs 13,700-crore Punjab National Bank scam
Officers say the goods were exported in 26 shipments by fugitive diamantaire's Dubai-based companies to his Hong Kong-based ones after cases were registered against him in India In another major jolt to fugitive businessman Nirav Modi's plan to keep wealth stashed overseas, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) yesterday attached valuables worth Rs 255 crore, which were hidden in a Hong Kong vault. This is the second such action this month against Nirav after his assets in London and Hong Kong were seized by the central agency in the first week.
As per ED officers, the valuables were exported in 26 shipments by Nirav's Dubai-based companies to his Hong Kong-based ones after the registration of cases in India. The ED is probing the Rs 13,700-crore PNB scam and has attached assets worth Rs 4,744 crore till date.
ED officers had gathered intelligence that certain valuables belonging to the diamantaire were lying in the vaults of a Hong Kong-based logistics company. They obtained value, consignee, shipper, ownership, and other details of these shipments, gathered evidence of ownership and value of the goods, and then attached them with help from overseas agencies.
In the first week of October, ED had seized jewellery, bank accounts and properties in Hong Kong, UK and New York, all worth Rs 637 crore, besides seizing properties and polished diamonds worth Rs 218.46 crore belonging to his uncle Mehul Choksi.
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The case
The Enforcement Directorate has filed cases against Nirav and Choksi in the scam based on the Central Bureau of Investigation's FIR. The probe has revealed that, from 2011 to 2017, accused officials of PNB along with others fraudulently issued a large number of letters of undertaking to overseas banks for obtaining buyer's credit in favour of some of the jeweller's firms.
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