Nirav Modi Probe: Investigators Get Court Permit To Ask 6 Countries For Help

Agencies
February 27, 2018

New Delhi, Feb 27:  The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Punjab National Bank's (PNB) Managing Director and CEO Sunil Mehta in connection with the Rs. 11,400 crore PNB scam allegedly involving diamantaire Nirav Modi and owner of Gitanjali Gems Mehul Choksi, officials said today.

The ED today also examined the state-owned bank's Executive Director KV Brahmaji Rao to understand how the alleged fraud was detected and other banking procedures.

Mehta, officials said, will be asked similar questions when he meets ED officials this week. They said the two officials are not being examined as accused.

The CBI had examined the two senior PNB officials last week in the same case.

Meanwhile, diamond merchant Modi, his wife Ami and uncle Choksi today skipped their scheduled appearance before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Mumbai.

It was not immediately known if the agency will issue fresh dates to them.

If it does not issue them fresh summons, it is understood, the ED is expected to move a special court in Mumbai seeking non-bailable arrest warrants against them.

The agency today also obtained the court's nod to issue six Letters Rogatories (LRs), judicial requests for obtaining information from overseas locations, pertaining to its probe against Modi.

The agency is expected to obtain more such LRs in this case.

The LRs issued today will be sent, through the Union home ministry, to Hong Kong, the US, the UK, the UAE, South Africa and Singapore.

The attempt of sending these judicial requests for exchange of information is aimed at obtaining the details of the overseas financial holdings of Modi and Choksi and also their bank accounts, assets, partnerships, showrooms, trusts and other assets, the officials said.

These assets and their sources of income will be investigated and if necessary would be attached under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) if it is found that they have been created using tainted funds or the proceeds of crime of the alleged bank fraud, the sources had said.

The total assets seized by the ED in this case is now over Rs. 6,393 crore, officials had said, adding that this was being independently valued.

Modi, Choksi and others are being investigated by the ED and other probe agencies after the fraud recently came to light, following a complaint by the PNB that they allegedly cheated the nationalised bank to the tune of Rs. 11,400 crore, with the purported involvement of a few employees of the bank.

The CBI and the ED have registered two First Information Reports or FIRs each to probe the case. Both Modi and Choski are said to have left the country before criminal cases were lodged against them.

The ED, a central probe agency under the Union finance ministry, is investigating if the allegedly defrauded bank funds were laundered and proceeds of crime were subsequently used by the accused to create illegal assets and black money.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
January 5,2020

Puducherry, Jan 5: Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi, a former IPS officer, became the butt of Twitterati jokes on Saturday after she tweeted that NASA recording of the sound of the sun was in fact 'Om' chant. She wrote at @thekiranbedi: "NASA recorded sound of the sun -- Sun chants Om."

The post got 5.6K retweets and 17.7K likes, and as many as 472.6K views.

One user remarked: "Wrong. The Sun said NaMo NaMo. You should've checked the UNESCO version along with the NASA version."

A post read: "And we thought you were intelligent."

One user posted a picture of Kiran Bedi with Sadhguru Jaggi who was trolled a few days ago after he posted his support on the Citizenship Amendment Act. He commented: "This picture can be provided."

A Twitter user reminded the former bureaucrat about the Indian Constitution's Fundamental Duties (Article 51A) that says that it shall be the duty of every citizens of India to develop scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform.

Another wondered aloud: "We don't know how you cleared the Civil Services exams. We are ashamed...."

A user posted a clip of a well known stand-up comic who talked about the celestial hum which many claim to be Om chant.

A post read: "I consider this tweet by you as one of the best jokes of the millennium. The saffron brigade is successful in brainwashing learned people like you."
One user commented: "Once upon a time this lady was a hero to many. What a disgrace now!"

Comments

Ahmed Ali Kulai
 - 
Monday, 6 Jan 2020

Shame on you!!

 

Dont know how you are appointed as IPS officer

 

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 11,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 11: The effective handling of Covid-19 pandemic by the Kerala Government has received a big endorsement in the International media with the latest being a report in Washington Post which suggests that the State’s success could prove instructive to the entire country.

The Washington Post quoted Kerala Health Minister K K Shailaja Teacher as saying “We hoped for the best but planned for the worst. Now, the curve has flattened, but we cannot predict what will happen next week.”

"The Minister said six states had reached out to Kerala for advice. She, however, noted that it might not be easy to replicate Kerala’s lessons elsewhere," according to the Minister's office quoting the report here on Saturday.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 29,2020

May 29: Over 45,000 stranded Indians were brought back home from abroad under the Vande Bharat mission and another 1,00,000 will be evacuated till June 13, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.

The mega evacuation mission was launched on May 7.

MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said the government is also assisting return of stranded Indians from remote locations in Latin America and Caribbean, Africa, and parts of Europe.

"This is being done by taking advantage of foreign carriers flying to India primarily for evacuation of their nationals," he said during an online media briefing.

He said a total of 45,216 Indians were brought back till Thursday afternoon and they include 8,069 migrant workers, 7,656 students and 5,107 professionals.

About 5,000 Indians have returned through land border from Nepal and Bangladesh.

In the first phase of the mission from May 7 to 15, the government evacuated around 15,000 people from 12 countries. The second phase of the evacuation mission was scheduled from May 17 to 22. However, the government has extended it till June 13.

Srivastava said a total of 3,08,200 people have registered their request with Indian missions abroad for repatriation to India on compelling grounds.

"During the phase two, a total of 429 Air India flights (311 international flights + 118 feeder flights) from 60 countries are scheduled to land in India. The Indian Navy will be making four more sorties to bring back returnees from Iran, Sri Lanka and the Maldives," Srivastava said.

The MEA spokesperson said the government is targeting to bring back 1,00,000 people from 60 countries by the end of phase two of the Vande Bharat mission.

"Preparations for third phase of Vande Bharat Mission are well underway," he said.

As per the government's policy for evacuation, Indians having "compelling reasons" to return like pregnant women, elderly people, students and those facing the prospect of deportation are being brought back home.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.