The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has brought back from Hong Kong 108 consignments of precious gems and jewellery, with a declared value of ₹1,350 crore, in connection with the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case.
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The consignments belonged to various entities of Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, based in the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong. “These valuables include polished diamonds, pearls and silver jewellery. They were kept in the godown of a logistics company in Hong Kong,” said a senior ED official.
The consignments, weighing about 2,340 kg, were sent by the accused persons to Hong Kong from Dubai in early 2018. The ED officials received information about them in July 2018. Since then, the agency had been making efforts to get their possession. The officials were in constant touch with their counterparts in Hong Kong in this regard.
After finalising all the legal formalities, the articles were sent to Mumbai on June 10. Of the 108 consignments, 32 belonged to the entities controlled by Mr. Nirav Modi and the rest were of the entities controlled by his uncle, who is facing extradition proceedings in Antigua.
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The agency had earlier brought back 33 consignments of valuables from Dubai and Hong Kong. The valuables were seized on arrival and an independent valuer had assessed the worth of those consignments as ₹137 crore.
On June 8, a special court in Mumbai had allowed the ED to confiscate property worth ₹1,400 crore of Mr. Nirav Modi under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act. He is facing extradition proceedings in the United Kingdom.
