PNB fraud: Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi's passport revoked

Last week, the passport issuing authority in the MEA had suspended the validity of passports of Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi.

NEW DELHI: The government on Saturday revoked the passports of Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi who are at the forefront of the alleged multi-million Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud.

Last week, the passport issuing authority in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had suspended the validity of passports of Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi with immediate effect for a period of four weeks. Their passports were suspended on the advice of the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Modi, who holds an Indian passport, had left India on January 1, while his brother Nishal, a Belgian citizen, departed from the country on the same day. Modi's wife Ami, a US citizen, left on January 6 and his maternal uncle and business associate Mehul Choksi left on January 4.

The ED had also issued summons for appearance to the billionaire diamond merchant and Choksi in connection with its money laundering probe in the Rs 11,400 crore fraud in PNB.

Both Modi and Choksi were summoned under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and asked to depose within a week's time. The ED has registered a PMLA case against them and others based on a CBI FIR which was the result of a PNB complaint.