Mehul Choksi's Samuels Jewelers shuts down 112 US stores
Business | Mar 19, 2019, 02:27 PM ISTChoksi, who currently lives in the Carribean Islands and is evading Indian investigators, had declared bankruptcy in August, last year.
Choksi, who currently lives in the Carribean Islands and is evading Indian investigators, had declared bankruptcy in August, last year.
Modi, a key accused in the USD 2 billion Punjab National Bank fraud case along with his uncle and promoter of Gitanjali Gems Mehul Choksi, has fled the country.
The agency said it has issued a provisional order for attachment, under the PMLA, of the factory premise owned by Abbeycrest (Thailand) Limited which is a "group company" of the Gitanjali group of companies.
The notice was issued following a request by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which is probing the Rs 12,000 PNB scam along with other agencies.
Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi are wanted by the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for allegedly defrauding the PNB to the tune of Rs 13,400 crore apparently in collusion with few of its employees.
The agency said that it has issued a provisional order under the Prevention and Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for attachment of the assets.
Congress alleged that 23 fraudsters escaped India under the government's watch after duping the country of over Rs 53,000 crore.
Choksi is one of the alleged masterminds of the USD 2 billion scam in state-run Punjab National Bank and is an uncle of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi.
Chief Judicial Magistrate BH Kapadia declared Modi an absconder in a case filed against him in December 2014 by the Mumbai zonal unit of the DRI.
Mehta said that the Nirav Modi scam was a bygone and hoped that the PNB will be back into the black during 2018-19 due to various efforts taken by the bank after the fraud came to light in January this year.
Two immovable properties having total value of USD 29.99 Million (Rs 216 crores approx) and beneficially owned by Nirav Modi in New York, have also been attached by the directorate under section 5 of Prevention of Money laundering Act.
Foreign Minister of Antigua & Barbuda EP Chet Greene had a bilateral meeting with Swaraj on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York.
Choksi, who is currently in Antigua, claimed that "all the allegations leveled by Enforcement Directorate are false and baseless."
In his plea, Choksi claimed that the Indian prisons 'violate human rights conditions'.
Suryawanshi said one of the "illegal" bungalows in the district belongs to Mehul Choksi, a diamond trader and co-accused in the PNB scam, but there was a court stay on its demolition, along with some other unauthorised buildings.
Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne had earlier claimed that at the time Choksi took the citizenship last year there was no case pending against him.
Between August 2015 and May 2017, she was Chief Executive of the PNB before moving to Allahabad Bank.
Modi and his uncle, Mehul Choksi, are the main accused in the PNB scam and they both left India before the details of the fraud came to light on January 16
Choksi's application for citizenship in Antigua in May 2017 was accompanied with clearance from the local police as required by norm, report in an Antiguan newspaper said.
According to reports, Choksi's lawyer has filed a plea in the court asking to prevent Indian authorities from extraditing the fugitive diamantaire.
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