The Enforcement Di rectorate (ED)’s e-auction of 13 vehicles linked to diamantaire Nirav Modi, 48, received a lukewarm response on Thursday with the Bentley Arnage, Rolls Royce Ghost and Porsche Panamera failing to receive any bids. All the vehicles were seized by the ED as part of its investigation of money laundering in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case. The starting price for the Bentley Arnage – ₹2,00,80,000 – is the highest of all the cars owned by Modi that are being auctioned.
Only three of the 13 cars up for auction received bids on Thursday. The Mercedes Benz GL 350 (with a special VIP number MH-01-BS-8), whose starting price was ₹37.80 lakh, received a bid of ₹37.95 lakh. A Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire VXI – starting price: ₹2.40 lakh – received a bid of ₹3.65 lakh and a Maruti Suzuki Alto – starting price: ₹1.80 lakh –received a bid for ₹2.35 lakh. Among the cars that did not receive a bid was Nirav’s brother Neeshal’s Skoda Elegance, which had a starting price of ₹5.25 lakh.
All the prices are subject to approval. The seller reserves the right to sell or reject it.
The agency is likely to try to sell the vehicles which failed to receive bids in a fresh auction. It may also rethink the starting prices and streamline the documentation transfer for the vehicles.
For this auction, bidders were allowed to inspect the vehicles on November 4 and 5 at three locations – Samudra Mahal in Worli, Grosvenor House at Peddar Road and the basement parking of Kohinoor City in Kurla (West). A source privy to the developments in the auction said the starting prices and documentation of the cars may have deterred interested parties. “Bidders were enquiring about the vehicles and there was a good response during the inspection of the vehicles,” said the source.
{{/usCountry}}For this auction, bidders were allowed to inspect the vehicles on November 4 and 5 at three locations – Samudra Mahal in Worli, Grosvenor House at Peddar Road and the basement parking of Kohinoor City in Kurla (West). A source privy to the developments in the auction said the starting prices and documentation of the cars may have deterred interested parties. “Bidders were enquiring about the vehicles and there was a good response during the inspection of the vehicles,” said the source.
{{/usCountry}}In a previous re-auction held in June, the Rolls Royce Ghost and Porsche Panamera – both registered in 2010 – received bids for ₹1.70 crore and ₹60 lakh respectively, but the sales were not completed due to minor technical complications. The Rolls Royce Ghost has been driven 24,439km while the Porsche Panamera has been driven 30,326km.
In a setback to Nirav, a UK court rejected his bail plea for the fifth time on Wednesday despite an offer of bail package, which included 4 million pounds as security as well as house arrest.
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