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PNB fraud: ED attaches over Rs 218-cr assets of Choksi, others

PNB fraud: ED attaches over Rs 218-cr assets of Choksi, others

TIL Desk/Business/New Delhi/ The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Wednesday seized assets worth over Rs 218 crore, including diamonds and flats abroad, in the nearly Rs 13,000 crore loan fraud case probe, the agency said.  It said three provisional orders under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) were issued by the central investigative agency’s zonal office in Mumbai for attachment of the properties.

The beneficiaries of these assets put under attachment, it said, are absconding diamond jeweller Mehul Choksi, Mihir Bhansali, a close aide and US-based executive of main accused in the case Nirav Modi, and a company named A P Gems and Jewellery Park linked to Choksi. The total value of the attached and seized assets is Rs 218.46 crore, the ED said.

The attached properties include a Rs 51 crore flat of Bhansali in a foreign country and the agency said it was purchased by him and his wife jointly. It was not immediately clear as to which country this asset is based in. “Bhansali is a close confidante of Nirav Modi and beneficiary of the scam. He was actively involved in the diversion of funds received from PNB’s LoU’s (letters of undertaking),” the ED said in a statement.

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