CBI names Nirav Modi’s sister in supplementary charge sheet

CBI files third charge sheet in PNB fraud, naming Purvi Modi and Aditya Nanavati. Purvi allegedly aided Nirav Modi in laundering ₹1201.18 crore.

PNB fraud:

Nirav Modi

MUMBAI: The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday filed the third supplementary charge sheet in the multi-crore fraud at Punjab National Bank case, naming Purvi Modi, sister of fugitive diamond trader Nirav Modi, and a certain Aditya Nanavati as accused in the case.

The duo is already named as accused in the charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate in the money laundering case. The CBI court is yet to take cognisance of the charge sheet.

Nanavati, a business associate of Modi, allegedly headed the operations of Firestar Diamonds in Hong Kong. Purvi Modi is the sister of Nirav Modi, who allegedly diverted around ₹1201.18 crore (175.1 USD million) through her. As per the charge sheet filed in the ED, Purvi was an active participant in the generation of proceeds of crime and the money laundering. It is claimed that Purvi was a director in Dubai and Hong Kong based companies which received funds generated through fraudulent Letters of Undertakings obtained by Nirav Modi from the public sector bank.

In February 2023, a special Fugitive Economic Offenders (FEO) court had rejected a plea filed by Purvi, who had sought orders to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to intervene in the bankruptcy proceedings being conducted before a US court against her brother.

Nirav Modi is the prime accused in the ₹13,850 crore fraud at the Punjab National Bank (PNB) and was declared a fugitive economic offender in December 2019. Modi and his uncle, Mehul Choksi, are accused of defrauding PNB by obtaining fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs), enabling them to secure overseas loans without proper collateral.

The scam, uncovered in 2018, involved officials from PNB’s Brady House branch in Mumbai issuing unauthorised LoUs to Modi’s firms, allowing them to receive credit from foreign banks. The total loss to PNB was estimated at ₹6,498 crore. The fraudulent transactions went unnoticed for several years due to the alleged collusion of certain bank officials. Modi, the mastermind behind the PNB scam, has been fighting extradition from the UK, where authorities arrested him in 2019.