Passports of Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi revoked

NEW DELHI: The passports of diamantaire Nirav Modi and owner of Gitanjali Gems Mehul Choksi, the main accused in the Rs 11,400 crore PNB scam, have been revoked, external affairs ministry sources said on Saturday.

On the advice of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the ministry had suspended the validity of their passports with immediate effect for four weeks on February 16 and given one week's time to them to respond as to why their passports should not be impounded or revoked.

"Since they have not responded so far, their passports have been revoked," a senior ministry source said, noting that in its notice to Modi and Choksi, the ministry had made it clear that their passports would be cancelled if they failed to respond.

Ministry sources said that future course of action would be taken on the advice of the investigation agencies.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday attached 21 properties, including a penthouse and a farmhouse, of Nirav Modi and his group worth over Rs 523 crore in fresh action against the beleaguered jeweller in the alleged Rs 11,400 crore fraud in the PNB.

The central probe agency said it has issued a provisional order for attachment of the assets, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), and seized a Rs 81.16 crore valued penthouse (created by joining three flats) and a flat worth Rs 15.45 crore in the sea-facing Samudra Mahal apartments in the Worli area of Mumbai.

"21 immovable properties of Nirav Modi and companies controlled by him, with a market value of Rs 523.72 crore, have been provisionally attached.

"These include six residential properties, ten office premises, two flats in Pune, a solar power plant, a farmhouse in Alibaug and 135 acres of land in Karjat in Ahmednagar district," the agency said.

With the latest action, the total assets seized by the ED, in this case, are now over Rs 6,393 crore, officials claimed, adding that this was being independently valued.

They said the examination is focussed on understanding how the crime was detected by the bank and other procedural issues and their violations.

They are not being treated as accused, the officials said.