ED detaches Nirav Modi’s assets over $135 mn, Rhythm House in auction list

MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate has de-attached assets worth over $135 mn, including the building that once housed Rhythm House music store at Kala Ghoda, a Nepeansea Road flat, an office building in Kurla and jewellery, of diamantaire Nirav Modi on court order for auction to recover the Punjab National Bank dues.
Nirav Modi and his wife Ami, who is an American citizen, fled the country in the first week of January 2018, shortly before the massive fraud at the public sector bank came to light. On January 31, 2018, the Central Bureau of Investigation registered an offence under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code against Modi and several others, including two officers of the PNB.
According to the complaint lodged by the PNB, between February and May 2017, Nirav Modi and his firms namely, M/s Diamond R US, M/s Solar Exports and M/s Stellar Diamond got fraudulently issued 150 Letters of Undertaking (LOUs) from Brady House branch of PNB and duped the public sector bank to the tune of around USD 1015.35 million.
Modi is currently lodged in a jail at Wandsworth Prison in South-west London ever since he was arrested by the British police in March 2019 on charges of extradition warrants issued against him, whereas Choksi is reportedly acquired citizenship of Antigua and is presently residing in the Caribbean island nation.