Four Swiss bank accounts of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi, the prime accused in the Rs 13,400 crore PNB credit fraud case, and his sister have been “frozen” by authorities in Switzerland as part of the money laundering probe being conducted against them by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) here.
Presently, Modi and his sister have deposits worth Rs 283.16 crore and they have been frozen on the request of the ED after it informed Swiss authorities that the money is part of the “proceeds of crime” of a bank fraud perpetrated by the duo, sources said.
The ED made the request to the Swiss authorities and had also sent an official request under the criminal provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said.
A provisional order for attachment of these four accounts, and one more in the name of a company controlled by Modi, was issued by the probe agency in Mumbai in September last year. The five overseas accounts then had Rs 278 crore in deposits.
While the accounts of Modi, under arrest in this case in London, have deposits of USD 3,74,11,596, the accounts in the name of his sister Purvi Modi has deposits of GBP 27,38,136.The total amount is about Rs 283.16 crore, they said.
The ED will now move for the seizure and subsequent confiscation of these bank accounts under the PMLA.
The ED, along with the CBI, are investigating Nirav Modi, his uncle Mehul Choksi and others for alleged money laundering and corruption respectively to defraud the Brady House branch of the PNB in Mumbai to the tune of Rs 13,400 crore.
Modi has been absconding since the alleged bank fraud and is houses in a prison in London. The ED has also filed a charge sheet against Nirav Modi alleging that he laundered and diverted over Rs 6,400 crore of bank funds abroad to dummy companies that were under his and his family's control.