This Article is From Feb 22, 2018

Nirav Modi Family Trust Allegedly Swindled 540 Cr Bank Funds, Papers Show

An NDTV investigation has found that an entity known as Nirav Deepak Modi Family Trust withdrew Rs 539 crores from one of those firms - Diamond 'R' Us - in the financial year 2014-15.

Nirav Modi left India in the first week of January, before the CBI started investigating the fraud.

New Delhi: The CBI, while charging Nirav Modi for swindling Punjab National Bank (PNB) of Rs 6,498 crores, in transactions dating back to 2011, has named three of Mr Modi's firms as being the recipients of the embezzled money: Diamond 'R'US, Solar Export and Stellar Diamonds.

Mr Modi has denied any wrongdoing.

But an NDTV investigation has found that an entity known as NDM Family Trust (Nirav Deepak Modi Family Trust) withdrew Rs 539 crores from one of those firms - Diamond 'R' US - in the financial year 2014-15.

There are no public records for Diamond 'R' US and the Modi Family Trust; they appear to be what are known as proprietorship firms, not required to disclose their finances.
 
anm enterprises doc nirav modi firm ndtv

The Rs 539 crore transaction has been noted in the financial disclosures of ANM Enterprise


The Rs 539 crore transaction however has been noted in the financial disclosures of another Nirav Modi firm - ANM Enterprises, in which Mr Modi owns nearly 100% stake. 

ANM Enterprises is one of the three partners in Diamond 'R' US; the others, according to ANM's disclosures, are NDM Family Trust and Nirav Deepak Modi Enterprises Pvt Ltd.

Nirav Modi's lawyer Vijay Aggarwal declined to comment on the subject. "I have not consulted on this from my client, have not looked at it (this allegation) and I will look at it only when CBI asks me to," Mr Aggarwal told NDTV.

In its balance sheets for the year 2014-15, ANM records the following transactions between Diamond 'R' Us and its investors: it shows that ANM and Nirav Deepak Modi Enterprises have invested just over Rs 2 crores into Diamond 'R' Us, while the Family Trust has withdrawn Rs 539 crore from the company.
 
anm enterprises doc nirav modi firm ndtv

Balance sheets show that ANM and Nirav Deepak Modi Enterprises have invested just over Rs 2 crores into Diamond 'R' Us.
 

This has resulted in Diamond 'R' US showing a massive negative balance of Rs 539 crores in their books.

Experts say this indicates Diamond 'R' US was already bankrupt by 2014, and yet continued to draw crores of rupees in credit from banks.

Thanks to the huge drain by the Family Trust, its financial health shows no sign of improving even in the next financial, the last year for which records are available. In ANM's disclosures for 2015-16, the Family Trust, which controlled 98 per cent ownership of Diamond 'R' Us, has diluted its shareholding to 0.5 per cent while still owing the company Rs 528 crores.

When a team from NDTV visited the official address of Diamonds 'R' Us in Mumbai, it was told by the guard on duty that, "there is nothing called Diamond 'R' Us here. This is the address of the charitable trust owned by Nirav Modi's family."
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