Nirav Modi is wanted in Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank fraud case. (File)
Highlights
- Nirav Modi's sister Purvi Modi has paid Rs 17.5 crore
- She had turned approver in the Punjab National Bank fraud case
- She was granted relief after she agreed to help the probe agency in probe
Nirav Modi's sister Purvi Modi has paid Rs 17.5 crore from her London bank account to the Enforcement Directorate after she turned approver in the Punjab National Bank fraud case, officials said on Thursday.
Purvi Modi and her husband Maiank Mehta were "granted pardon" in the Rs 13,500 crore bank fraud after the probe agency supported their applications on January 4, officials said. The relief came as she agreed to help the probe agency in their investigation.
"On June 24, Purvi Modi intimated Enforcement Directorate that she had received the knowledge of one bank account in London, United Kingdom in her name, which was opened at the behest of her brother Nirav Modi and that the funds did not belong to her," said an Enforcement Directorate statement quoted by news agency PTI.
"As Purvi Modi was allowed tender of pardon on conditions of making full and true disclosure, she remitted an amount of USD 23,16,889 from her UK bank account to the bank account of the government of India, Directorate of Enforcement," the statement further read.
According to the conditions, she has to make "full and true disclosures of the information related to the case", officials added.
Fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi lost the first stage of his extradition appeal in the UK High Court last week. The court's decision came nearly two months after an order by UK Home Secretary Priti Patel over the fraud case.
India "will continue the efforts to pursue his early extradition to India to face justice," the Foreign Ministry said last week.
Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi are accused of taking huge loans from overseas banks using forged PNB Letters of Undertaking (LoU).
They fled India in January, 2018, weeks before investigations began into the swindle.
While Nirav Modi is jailed in the UK, Mehul Choksi was recently detained in Dominica for illegal entry after what he described as an "abduction attempt". He had been staying in neighbouring Antigua and Barbuda since 2018 as a citizen.