More properties of Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi attached; Blue Corner notice issued

A Blue Corner notice has been issued against absconding billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi and Gitanjali Gems owner Mehul Choksi separately by the Bureau of Immigration. The notice, issued on February 22, 2018, will remain valid at all ports of embarkation, said Income Tax sources.

ANI further quoted Income Tax sources as saying that four more properties of Nirav Modi group have been attached. The attached properties include a farm house at Alibag worth Rs 13 crore and 5.24 MW Solar Power Plant with 135 acres of land at Karjat, Ahmednagar worth Rs 70 crore.

In action against Mehul Choksi, as many as 34 more bank accounts and fixed deposits of the Gitanjali group with the balance of Rs 1.45 crore have also been attached.

This came even as the Central Bureau of Investigation reached out to Nirav Modi, mailing him to join the investigation next week. Responding to it, Modi said, "We have businesses abroad so I can't join the investigation."

Widening its probe into the country's second-largest public sector lender Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had three days back said that they would soon send judicial requests to over a dozen countries for obtaining information about the overseas businesses and assets of diamantaire Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi.

According to official sources the agency will approach a competent court in Mumbai with a request to obtain Letters Rogatories (LRs) to be sent to about 15-17 countries where the central investigation agency has traced the footsteps of the diamond and gold jewellery businesses of the firms owned by Nirav Modi, his uncle Mehul Choksi and others associated with them, reported news agency Press Trust of India.

The countries where the LRs would be sent include Belgium, Hong Kong, Switzerland, the United States, the United Kingdom, Dubai, Singapore and South Africa.

Some official requests on the basis of agency-to-agency exchange will also be sent to few countries, the sources said.