Chennai: In a huge prize catch, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has brought back over 2,300 kg of polished diamonds and pearls worth Rs 1,350 crore of firms belonging to Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi from Hong Kong.
These valuables belonged to various entities of Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, based in the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong. According to an official, “these include polished diamonds, pearls and silver jewellery. They were kept in the godown of a logistics company in Hong Kong.”
According to investigators, the agency has successfully imported from Hong Kong around 108 packages of jewellery and gems belonging to firms controlled by Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi. The two were planning to fly these consignments to Dubai from Hong Kong in 2018 while evading officials on their trail, they add.
Both Modi and Choksi are being probed by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with an over USD 2 billion alleged bank fraud at a PNB branch in Mumbai.
After completing all the legal formalities, the articles were sent to Mumbai on Wednesday. Of the 108 consignments, 32 belonged to the entities controlled by Nirav Modi and the rest were of the entities controlled by his uncle, who is facing extradition proceedings in Antigua.