A Special Court has issued a public notice to fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi, wanted in India for allegedly performing money laundering and frauds in the PNB scam case, and raised the question “Why his properties should not be confiscated under the Fugitive Economic Offenders (FEO) Act, 2018?"
Nirav Modi was also asked to appear before the court by Special Judge V C Barde.
The notice said, “I, VC Barde, Special Judge, PMLA, 2002 and Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 issue NOTICE to you to show cause as to why the properties mentioned in the application (ED’s plea), in which you have pecuniary interest and / or otherwise, should not be confiscated under the said Act.”
A notice was also served to Modi’s wife Ami, sister Purvi and brother in law Maiank Mehta.
The notice said the family members have been enumerated as "interested person" in the application.
It was alleged by the investigating agency that Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi (his uncle) allegedly cheated Punjab National Bank (PNB) for Rs. 14,000 crore through issuance of fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs).
The LoUs were allegedly issued in a fraudulent manner by a Mumbai branch of the PNB to a group of companies belonging to Nirav Modi since March 2011, till the case came to light.
Under the Fugitive Economic Offenders (FEO) Act, 2018, a person can be declared a fugitive economic offender if a warrant has been issued against him for an offence involving an amount of Rs 100 crore or more and he has left the country and refuses to return.
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