Five years back, diamantaire Nirav Modi became emerged as one of India's most talked about financial offenders, after he had already fled the country. Using fake letters of undertaking, he siphoned off Rs 14,000 crore from the Punjab National Bank. As the bank attempts to recover some of that amount by selling off Modi's seized assets, it slashing prices after failing to find takers.
Earlier this month, the Debt Recovery Tribunal tried to auction two flats worth Rs 18 crore owned by Nirav Modi. But after failing to receive bids for the properties, the tribunal has cut prices and has ordered another auction for selling the assets. Calculated till 2023, the dues that need to be recovered stand at Rs 11,700 crore.
Prices for both flats have been slashed by around Rs 90 lakhs each, and from Rs 18 crore, the value has come down to little over Rs 16 crore. The renewed auction will now be held on March 20, and the tribunal has also issued auction notices for Modi's companies. The consortium led by PNB, which was conned by Nirav Modi, consists for 15 banks, and will be able to recover only a tiny portion of his total debt from the auction.
Along with Modi, now in London, his uncle Mehul Choksi is also a prime accused in the case, and fled to Antigua & Barbuda Isles. Both of them are now awaiting an extradition to India.
(To receive our E-paper on WhatsApp daily, please click here. To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
