The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is investigating the whereabouts of Nirav Modi's financial transactions, said it has attached properties worth Rs 5,716 crore of the diamantaire.
Official sources at the ED headquarters at Indira Bhavan in Delhi said agency sleuths searched Modi's flat in the Samudra Mahal apartments in Worli. The central probe agency also conducted searches at 38 other locations in several cities, including Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad, Thane, Kolkata, Delhi, Jammu, Lucknow, Bengaluru and Surat.
An ED spokesperson said the agency had seized fresh assets worth Rs 22 crore, including precious stones, cash and gold from the premises of Modi, his uncle and business partner Mehul Choksi and others on Monday. So far, the agency has seized diamonds, gold jewellery and items made of other precious stones worth Rs 5,716 cr in the case. On Monday, the Ministry of External Affairs also summoned Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi to explain why their Indian passports should not be suspended.
“The raids are still ongoing and I can tell you that we will recover more of his wealth going ahead," said the ED spokesperson. The ED move to seal eight bank accounts fo Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi earlier yielded limited results because funds from these bank accounts were cleared “in a systemic manner” before the agency acted upon.
The ED is also focusing on investigating higher officials of the Punjab National Bank as to how Letters of Understanding (LoUs) were issued and other bank operations were done without reflecting these transactions in the Core Banking System (CBS).
"We have obtained more information from a Bangalore-based whistleblower in this case, who claimed he raised a red flag in 2013. The focus of the ED investigation is now on securing the proceeds of the crime,” the spokesperson said.
The agency suspects that the payments made with the LoUs were done to three firms in particular that are based in Hong Kong, Singapore and the UK. "We have reasons to believe that these could have been shell companies of one of the accused," said an ED official who has joined the probe.
Also joining the probe was ED Director Karnal Singh, who flew to Mumbai on Monday to take stock of the anti-money laundering investigation in this case. "He will be coordinating with our special team in Mumbai investigating the case," said an ED spokesperson.
A number of computers, hard drives and documents have been seized by the ED since it started conducting raids on Nirav Modi, his wife, partner and brother's residence, office and some business partners since February 15.
In the coming days, the ED is likely to attach more than 29 properties across the country, belonging to Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and their related parties (companies and relatives in business with them).
The agency is also under pressure from the finance ministry, its parent, to bring in results in this investigation. In the recent past, the agency was not able to bring up enough shreds of evidence to establish before a CBI special court the trail of money in coal asset allocation scam.
It is also yet to make any major breakthrough in the former Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya's case as well. A senior ED official informed that they are coordinating with at least four senior finance ministry officials on an hourly basis regarding the findings of investigations into Nirav Modi and others.
