Nirav Modi's 11 properties worth Rs 56 crore seized by ED in Dubai

The market value of the properties seized is US$ 7.795 million which is equivalent to Rs 56.8 Crore, under PMLA.

New Delhi: Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday has seized 11 properties in Dubai belonging to absconding Diamond jeweller Nirav Modi and his group Company Firestar Diamond FZE in connection with the USD 2 billion alleged bank fraud in the Punjab National Bank (PNB).

The market value of the properties seized is US$ 7.795 million which is equivalent to Rs 56.8 Crore, under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED had on last week attached valuables worth Rs 255 crore in Hong Kong belonging to Nirav Modi under the PMLA.

Nirav Modi has been absconding since the alleged bank fraud, by far the highest in the country in terms of value, came to light early this year and an Interpol arrest warrant was recently notified against him even as India is working to get him extradited from the United Kingdom, where he was last reported to have been based.

ED has also filed a charge sheet against him alleging that he laundered and diverted over Rs 6,400 crore of bank funds abroad to dummy companies that were under his and his families' control

Nirav Modi, his uncle Mehul Choksi and others are being probed under various criminal laws after the fraud came to light this year following a complaint by the Punjab National Bank (PNB) that they allegedly cheated the nationalised bank to the tune of over Rs 13,000 crore, with the purported involvement of a few employees of the bank.

(With PTI  Inputs)