Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi’s sister Purvi Modi has remitted Rs 17.25 crore from her bank account in London to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), informing the agency that the money, believed to be proceeds of crime in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case, did not belong to her and that the account was opened at the behest of her brother.
Purvi Modi had been granted a tender of pardon and made an approver in the case by the court last year. The ED has accused her of being part of laundering the proceeds of crime in the case. Last year, she had made a plea requesting to be made prosecution witness in the case. The agency, in a press release on Thursday said she had intimated on June 24 that she had received information about a bank account in London, UK in her name, which was opened at the behest of her brother Nirav Modi and that the amount in it did not belong to her.
The agency said that since she was allowed the tender of pardon on condition of making full and true disclosure, she remitted an amount of USD 23,16,889 (Rs 17.25 crore) from her account to the account of the Government of India, ED. Further, said the ED, with her help, it was able to recover approximately Rs 17.25 crores from the proceeds of crime.
In her plea last year along with that of her husband Maiank Mehta, also named as an accused in the case, Purvi Modi had said that on account of being Nirav’s sister she was in a unique position to be able to provide important evidence, access to bank accounts, entities relevant to Nirav Modi and his dealings. She had further said that her entire personal and professional life had been brought to a standstill due to her brother’s activities and that she had distanced herself from him. She undertook to be examined as a witness. The court had allowed their pleas on January 4 on the condition that they made full disclosure of circumstances in their knowledge.
