In what could spell troubles for fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi, prime accused in the multi-crore money laundering case pertaining to the Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam, a special court on Thursday issued a public notice asking him why shouldn’t his properties be confiscated under the Fugitive Economic Offenders (FEO) law.
Special Judge V C Barde has also asked Modi to appear before the court on June 11 else it would proceed with action under the FEO law.
Notably, the special court had in December 2019 declared Modi a fugitive offender under the new law.
On Thursday, it issued the public notice, which reads, “I VC Barde, special judge, PMLA, 2002 and the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018, issue NOTICE to you to show cause as to why the properties mentioned in the application (ED’s plea), in which you have pecuniary interest and/or otherwise, should not be confiscated under the said Act.”
It wouldn’t be out of place to mention that a similar notice was issued to Modi’s wife Ami, his sister Purvi and brother-in-law Maiank Mehta, as they were “interested parties.”
As per the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Modi along with his uncle Mehul Choksi cheated the Punjab National Bank to the tune of Rs 14,000 crores through issuance of fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs).
The LoUs were allegedly issued in a fraudulent manner by a Mumbai branch of the PNB to a group of companies belonging to Nirav Modi since March 2011, till the case came to light.
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