New Delhi: Billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi on Thursday made it clear that he can't appear and depose before the Enforcement Directorate in the Rs 11,400 crore Punjab National Bank scam.
In an emailed reply to the ED’s investigating officer, he cited the temporary suspension of his passport and pending business issues as reasons for his non-appearance before the probe agency.
Liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who is also wanted for a fraud worth Rs 9,000 crore and money laundering, had cited the same reasons for not appearing before the ED a few years ago. The agency had asked him to approach the nearest Indian embassy and get a travel document issued in order to return to the country.
The ED has now issued fresh summons against diamantaire Nirav Modi, official sources said. Modi was summoned under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The sources said he has now been asked to join the investigation and appear before the central probe agency in Mumbai on February 26.
Modi, it is understood, had sent an e-mail to the ED, stating that while his passport was temporarily suspended, he was also dealing with the recent developments and investigations, pertaining to the alleged bank fraud, against his businesses in the country and hence, he was unable to depose before the agency.
Meanwhile, it is understood that Mehaul Choksi, Nirav Modi’s uncle and promoter of Gitanjali Gems, who has been summoned by the ED for Friday, will also be issued a fresh summons if he fails to appear.
The agency on Thursday seized shares, mutual funds and luxury cars, worth over Rs 100 crore, of the group companies of Modi and Choksi. The ED raids against the duo, launched on February 15, are into the the eighth day.
Modi, Choksi and others are being investigated by multiple probe agencies, including the CBI and the Income Tax department, after it recently came to light, following a complaint from the PNB, that they allegedly cheated the state-run bank to the tune of Rs 11,400 crore, with the purported involvement of a few employees of the bank.
The CBI and the ED have registered two FIRs each in the case. Both Modi and Choksi left the country before the cases were lodged against them.
Comments
0 comment