In a significant development, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday seized foreign assets of fugitive Gitjanjali Gems owner Mehul Choksi. The agency under Prevention of Money laundering Act (PMlA) seized 34,000 pieces of jewellery worth Rs 85 crore from a Dubai shop in connection with Punjab National Bank fraud case.
The agency said the jewellery was “brought from Dubai” and has been seized under the Prevention of Money laundering Act (PMlA).
“ED seizes over 34,000 pieces of jewellery worth Rs 85 crore under PMlA of Mehul Choksi controlled Gitanjali Group brought from Dubai,” it said in a statement.
Choksi, along with his nephew and millionaire designer jeweller Nirav Modi, is being investigated by the ED for allegedly defrauding PNB, the country’s second largest lender. The seizure from Dubai is a success for ED as always faced roadblocks in the seizure of foreign assets.
Nirav Modi, Choksi and others are being investigated by the ED as well as other probe agencies after the fraud came to light this year following a complaint by the PNB that they allegedly cheated the nationalised bank to the tune of over Rs 13,000 crore, with the purported involvement of a few employees of the bank.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED have registered two first information reports (FIRs) each in the case.
The CBI has this week filed two charge sheets in the case before a Mumbai court while the ED is expected to file its own prosecution complaint soon. The ED complaint or charge sheet will focus on the money laundering aspect and the role played by the two and others in perpetrating the alleged fraud.