ONI Bureau: The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday conducted search operations at 17 premises across India linked to billionaire jewellery designer Nirav Modi & Geetanjali Gems. As many as 9 properties raided, stocks of Gold, Diamond & precious Stones worth Rs 5100 crore seized. Bank balance worth Rs 3.9 crore in accounts & fixed deposits has also been freezed.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has sealed the residence of Ami Modi, wife of Nirav Modi in Mumbai in connection with Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case. The government has revoked the passport of Nirav Modi and a look-out-notice against Modi has been issued, informed by the Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told in a press conference on Thursday.
The raids came after the Punjab National Bank filed a Rs 280-crore money laundering case against Modi, his wife Ami, brother and business partner, saying the scam was worth more than Rs 11,400 crore. Though the scam occurred in 2011, was detected in 2018.
When PNB was about to expose the scam, Nirav Modi & Co. smelled the crackdown and left India. They left in January first week. The PNB has suspended 10 officers involved in this scam and referred the matter to CBI for investigation.
The stock worth Rs 5100 crore including gold & diamond jewellery, precious stones etc recovered during the searches were seized under PMLA,” the agency said in a statement.