Mumbai: A day after the massive $1.8 billion banking fraud was unearthed, the Enforcement Directorate swooped down on the offices, showrooms and workshops of diamond merchant Nirav Modi. The raids have yielded booty amounting to Rs 5100 crore, which includes diamond jewellery, gold and cash.
Apart from the jewellery, bank balance worth Rs 3.9 crore in different accounts and fixed deposits have also been frozen. Earlier in the day, the CBI questioned PNB officials in connection with the case. The CBI also sealed Nirav‘s wife Ami Modi’s Worli residence. The CBI had conducted a raid at her residence on February 3 and 4.
In Mumbai, the raids were conducted at the Firestar Diamond head office in Bharat Diamond Bourse in Bandra Kurla Complex, Modi’s private office at Kohinoor City in Kurla West, his showroom and boutique at Fort in south Mumbai and a workshop in Peninsula Business Park in Lower Parel. In Gujarat, six diamond workshops were raided in Surat SEZ at Sachin town and an office in Belgium Towers on Ring Road, the hub of diamond jewellery trade. Two diamond jewellery boutiques of Modi in New Delhi – in Chanakyapuri and Defence Colony – were also raided. The ED has also written to authorities seeking revocation of Nirav Modi’s passport.
