A special court granted the ED permission to seize 39 of the fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi's properties, valued at almost £50mn. Additionally, the PNB's request for 9 properties totaling £42.4 million that Modi and his companies had mortgaged or hypothecated was allowed.
The properties the ED will confiscate which includes 12 immovable properties attached to Rhythm House at Kalaghoda, consignments seized by agencies when in transit, amounts parked in several bank accounts held outside the country and valuables seized from his Alibaug bungalow. They include 22 cars, including a Mercedes and a Bentley, and the ED could now auction them.
The CBI had charged him of defrauding PNB by obtaining LoUs of over £700 million in criminal conspiracy with several bank officials. In June 2020, in the first order of seizure under the Fugitive Economic Offenders (FEO) Act, 2018, the court had directed that Modi’s properties be attached by the ED. However, it had exempted assets secured to PNB and a consortium of banks either through mortgage, hypothecation or personal guarantee. Modi was declared an FEO in December 2019.
