E-Paper
Nirav Modi’s sister Purvi Mehta remits ₹17.25 crore to Indian govt
Nirav Modi is currently held at Wandsworth prison in South London and has been there since his arrest in London in March 2019 with connection to the PNB scam.
Purvi Modi, sister of Nirav Modi who is wanted in the PNB scam, remitted over ₹17 crore from a bank in the United Kingdom to the Indian government on Thursday after she was pardoned from criminal proceedings in return for extending help over the ₹13,000 crore PNB loan fraud case.
A Mumbai court in January granted ‘tender of pardon’ in the case to Purvi Modi alias Purvi Mehta (47) and her husband Maiank Mehta as both were made approvers on the condition that they make full and true disclosure. Both Purvi and Maiank are British citizens and they never joined the probe.
“On June 24, Purvi Modi informed the Enforcement Directorate that she had received the knowledge of one bank account in London, United Kingdom in her name, which was opened at the behest of her brother Nirav Modi and that the funds did not belong to her."
"As Purvi Modi was allowed tender of pardon on conditions of making full and true disclosure, she remitted an amount of $23,16,889.03 from her UK bank account to the bank account of the government of India, Directorate of Enforcement,” Enforcement Directorate (ED) said in a statement. The ED also said that it recovered about ₹17.25 crore from the proceeds of the crime with the cooperation of Purvi Modi.
The ED said that Purvi assured the agency that she would help it in confiscating assets worth ₹579 crore which included flats in New York, London and deposits in bank accounts in Switzerland. The ED earlier got an arrest warrant issued by the Interpol against her in 2018 and also filed two charge sheets under the criminal provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) where Purvi and Maiank were arraigned as accused in the alleged bank loan fraud case.
Purvi in her application to the court said that she was not a prime accused and was attributed a limited role by the investigating agency. She also said that she gave full cooperation to the agencies and provided all requisite information and documents.
In her plea, Purvi said that on account of being Nirav Modi’s sister, she could provide “substantial and important evidence, information, proof, and documents and access to bank accounts, assets, companies and entities that are relevant to Nirav Modi and his actions/dealings” because of her unique position.
The ED said that a ₹19.5 crore worth flat near Breach Candy on Bhulabhai Desai Road in Mumbai, two flats in Central Park south area of New York (in the name of a trust) wroth ₹36.52 crore and ₹182.82 crore respectively, two Swiss bank account deposits worth ₹168.08 crore and ₹108.23 crore, a ₹62.1 crore flat at Marylebone Road in London and bank deposits worth ₹1.96 crore kept in a Syndicate Bank branch at Nariman Point in Mumbai are the assets in the names of Purvi Modi which are expected to be repatriated with her assistance. The ED last month said that 40% of the money lost by the banks due to the frauds committed by fugitive businessmen Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and Vijay Mallya has been recovered so far.
Nirav Modi is currently held at Wandsworth prison in South London and has been there since his arrest in London in March 2019 with connection to the PNB scam.
Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi both of whom are prime accused in the case along with others are being probed by the ED on money laundering charges. The duo have perpetrated bank fraud of more than ₹13,000 crore with assistance from bank officials and by issuing fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) at the Brady House PNB branch in Mumbai.
(with inputs from agencies)
