Court notice to Nirav Modi’s brothers over Fugitive declaration proceedings

A special court here has issued notices to absconding diamond businessman Nirav Modi’s brothers, asking them to explain why they should not be officially declared a “fugitive economic offender” (FEO) in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam.

The notices were issued to Neeshal and Nehal Modi by special court judge AV Gujarathi, hearing cases filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), on Wednesday in the wake of the Enforcement Directorate’s pleas to declare them fugitive under the Fugitive Economic Offenders (FEO) Act. Senior executives of Nirav Modi’s firm, Aditya Nanavati and Sandeep Mistry, also facing FEO proceedings, have also been served with similar notices. They have been asked to respond by May 7.

Once a person is declared an FEO, his assets can be attached or confiscated.

Nehal Modi helped Nirav move and hide large amounts of money through fake companies and overseas transactions, the ED has claimed. Neeshal Modi was involved in the appointment of dummy partners and was a signatory or a beneficiary in some Dubai-based dummy companies between 2011 and 2013, an ED charge-sheet alleged. Nehal Modi was arrested in the US in 2025 and is fighting the extradition proceedings initiated against him by the ED and CBI.

Absconding diamond businessman Mehul Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi are accused of siphoning off over Rs 23,780 crore from the PNB using fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) and Foreign Letters of Credit (FLCs) by bribing its officials.

The special court had in 2019 declared Nirav Modi an FEO, while ED’s similar plea against Choksi is still pending.

Currently, Choksi is facing extradition proceedings in Belgium, while Nirav Modi is lodged in a London jail.