Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed an application before a special court here Thursday, seeking permission to sell the paintings and other valuables of fugitive jeweller Nirav Modi, a prime accused in the multi-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam, seized during raids.
According to the ED application, the paintings that the agency wants to sell include those seized by the Income Tax department valued at Rs 57.72 crore and the ones recovered by the financial investigation agency from Nirav Modi’s house, ‘Samudra Mahal’, in Mumbai.
Besides the paintings, the other seized items belonging to Nirav Modi, currently lodged in a jail in Britain, include high-end watches, bags and luxury cars, the ED said.
The ED, in its application filed before special judge VC Barde, said it had made a provisional attachment of these items February 25.
“The paintings and articles mentioned (in the plea) are perishable and prone to speedy and natural decay. The expenses of maintenance shall exceed their value if they are kept idle for a long period of time,” the ED said in its application. The plea is scheduled to come up for hearing September 5.
Nirav Modi and his jeweller uncle Mehul Choksi are the prime accused in the scam that is related to alleged fraudulent issuance of Letters of Undertaking (LoUs), causing a loss of over USD 2 billion to the PNB.
Nirav Modi is accused of being the ‘principal beneficiary’ of the fraudulent issuance of LoUs as part of a conspiracy to defraud PNB and then laundering the proceeds of the crime.
PTI
