PNB Scam: Nirav Modi's 9 luxury cars, shares worth Rs 100 cr seized by ED

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday seized nine luxury cars belonging to billionaire diamond czar Nirav Modi and his companies, in connection with the Punjab National Bank fraud. They also froze mutual funds and shares totalling at Rs 94.50 crore — of which Rs 7.80 crore belonged to Modi and Rs 86.72 crore to the Mehul Choksi Group.

According to the ED officials, the cars were seized from Modi's Worli house where the central agency had conducted searches earlier as well and included one Rolls Royce Ghost, two Mercedes Benz, one Porsche Panamera, 3 Hondas, one Toyota Fortuner and one Toyota Innova. Interestingly, it has surfaced that while two of the cars were registered with the tardeo RTO under his company names Fire Stone and Fire Star, there are no registration records for the rest. "We have not yet received any communication from any other government agency about these cars. Once they ask for details we shall look into it," said a RTO officer from Tardeo.

Additionally, fresh summons under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) were issued against Modi for February 26, after he failed to appear and depose before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday, official sources said. They added that Modi had replied to the ED's investigating officer (IO), probing the role of the diamond merchant and his uncle Choksi, the promoter of Gitanjali Gems, in the PNB scam, and cited the temporary suspension of his passport and pending business issues as reasons for his non-appearance.

Meanwhile, sources said the agency suspects that Modi has sent documents related to the fraud to Dubai, Hong Kong, and Singapore and hence they will be investigating that angle as well.

The central agency on Wednesday raided 17 locations across India, including four shell companies in Mumbai, in connection with the scam.

—With agency inputs

Changing Track

• Sources said agency also suspects that Modi has sent documents related to the fraud to Dubai, Hong Kong, and Singapore
• Modi has explained his absence to the ED in an email and blamed his passport suspension