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Mehul Choksi's Nashik property confiscated by I-T department: Report
An official told ANI that nine acres of agricultural land in Maharashtra's Nashik are being taken over by the income tax department. Further details regarding the confiscation of Choksi's properties are awaited.
The income tax department on Friday confiscated the properties of fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi, who is wanted in the multi-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam, news agency ANI reported.
An official told ANI that nine acres of agricultural land in Maharashtra's Nashik are being taken over by the income tax department. Further details regarding the confiscation of Choksi's properties are awaited.
Also Read| PNB fraud case: CBI seeks fresh sanction against Usha Ananthasubramanian
The I-T department's action comes after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sought a fresh prosecution sanction against former managing director and chief executive officer of PNB Usha Ananthasubramanian and former executive directors K V Brahmaji Rao and Sanjiv Sharan in its probe against Choksi.
People familiar with developments told Hindustan Times on March 4 that the sanction was sought from the Union finance ministry in the “destruction of evidence” probe against Choksi, who is accused of cheating the Punjab National Bank of more than ₹7,000 crore.
A CBI official, on the condition of anonymity, refused to share the date of the latest sanction request but said it was sought in 2021 itself “but the details have been kept under wraps as India is pursuing the extradition of Choksi.”
The fugitive diamantaire is currently living in Antigua and Barbuda and the Narendra Modi government is pursuing his extradition.
In May last year, Mehul Choksi had gone missing but was soon caught in Dominica. He was charged with illegal entry by the Dominican police after allegedly escaping from Antigua and Barbuda in a possible attempt to evade extradition to India.
However, he was granted interim bail on medical grounds.
Recently, the Centre informed Parliament that assets amounting to ₹19,111.20 to Choksi, his nephew Nirav Modi (the second main accused in the PNB scam) and Vijay Mallya had been attached by March 15.
In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, the minister of state (MoS) for finance Pankaj Chaudhary said on March 22 that these three fugitives defrauded public sector banks by siphoning off funds through their companies resulting in a total loss of ₹22,585.83 crore to the lenders.
"... as on March 15, 2022, assets worth ₹19,111.20 crore have been attached under the provisions of PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act)," Chaudhary added.
Out of this amount, assets worth 15,113.91 crore were restituted to the public sector banks, the minister added.
