The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday attached 41 properties worth ₹1217.20 crores belonging to diamond merchant Mehul Choksi and the companies controlled by him with respect to the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case.
The ED issued a provisional order for attachment under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The attached assets include 15 flats and 17 office premises in Mumbai, a mall in Kolkata, a four-acre farm house in Alibaug and 231 acres of land in Nasik, Nagpur, Panvel, and Villupuram in Tamil Nadu.
A 170-acre park in Hyderabad’s Ranga Reddy district, valued at over ₹500 crore, has also been attached, it said.
Four flats in Borivali (East) area in Mumbai and nine others in Khemu Towers in Santacruz (East) have been attached as part of the action.
“The total value of the 41 seized assets controlled by Choksi is estimated at ₹1,217.2 crore,” the ED said.
Choksi, designer diamond jewellery businessman Nirav Modi and others are being investigated by the ED and other investigating agencies after the PNB fraud came to light, following a complaint by the bank that they cheated it to the tune of ₹12,000 crore, with the purported involvement of some of its employees.
The CBI and the ED have registered two FIRs each. Both Choksi and Modi are said to have left the country before the criminal cases were lodged against them. They have, however, denied any wrongdoing.
The ED 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.
(With inputs from PTI)
