Mumbai: The Bombay Sessions Court on Wednesday granted permission to the Enforcement Directorate to seize assets worth Rs 500 crore of fugitive diamond trader Nirav Modi in Mumbai as part of a money laundering probe. The court while hearing a plea filed by the ED in this regard allowed the probe agency to seize the property worth Rs 500 crore under the Financial Offenses Act, including Nirav Modi's Rhythm House in the heart of south Mumbai.
It has also been directed to confiscate valuables while 22 cars were seized from a bungalow in Alibaug. This is the second time that a court order has allowed the confiscation of Modi's property. The businessman was declared an economic offender in December 2019, which led to the seizure of the assets of the fugitive criminal by the court under the Economic Offenders Act.
Also read: ED attaches gems, bank deposits of Nirav Modi group in Hong Kong
The Enforcement Directorate in July said it has attached gems, jewellery and bank deposits worth Rs 253.62 crore of companies linked to fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi as part of a money laundering probe. All these moveable assets are in Hong Kong, the agency said in a statement.
Some assets of the Nirav Modi Group of companies in Hong Kong were identified in the form of gems and jewellery lying in private vaults and bank balances in accounts maintained there and these have been provisionally attached under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), it said. Nirav Modi, 50, is presently lodged in a UK jail and has lost his extradition plea to India in connection with the USD 2-billion PNB fraud case that is also being investigated by the CBI.
