The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has recovered Rs 17.25 crore as proceeds of crime from fugitive businessman Nirav Modi with the help of his sister Purva Modi. This was months after Purva Modi and her husband Maiank Mehta’s name was cleared in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case.
Nirav Modi is the key accused in the Rs 13,500 crore PNB fraud case and is currently lodged in a London prison.
In a statement, the ED said Purva Modi has remitted an amount of $2316889.03 (Rs 17.25 crore approximately) from a UK bank account to the bank account of the Government of India.
Purva Modi and her husband Maiank Mehta were initially mentioned as accused in the case against Nirav Modi. However, on January 4, 2021, a Special PMLA Court pardoned them on the condition that they would make full and true disclosure of aspects related to the Nirav Modi case.
The couple was thus treated as an approver in the case.
As per the ED statement, “On June 24, Purva Modi intimated the ED that she had received the knowledge of one bank account in London in her name, which was opened at the behest of her brother, Nirav Modi and that the funds did not belong to her.”
Since Purvi Modi had been granted tender of pardon on conditions of making full and true disclosure, she remitted an amount of $2316889.03 from her UK bank account to the bank account of the Government of India, the statement said.
With the cooperation of Purvi modi, the Enforcement Directorate was able to recover approximately Rs 17.25 crore from the proceeds of crime,” it added.
Nirav Modi is wanted in India on charges of fraud and money laundering in the Punjab National Bank scam case. Nirav Modi has lost his legal battle in the UK against his extradition to India.
Nirav Modi is primarily facing two sets of criminal proceedings. The CBI case against him relates to a large-scale fraud upon PNB through the fraudulent obtaining of letters of undertaking (LoUs) or loan agreements, while the ED case relates to the laundering of the proceeds of that fraud.
Besides these, he also faces two additional charges of “causing the disappearance of evidence” and intimidating witnesses or “criminal intimidation to cause death”, which were added to the CBI case.