PNB fraud case:ED registers PMLA case against Nirav Modi, conducts raid on 9 locations

The complaints deal with fraudulent transactions reported from the bank's branches and the amount involved is over Rs 10,000 crore, the sources told PTI.

Enforcement Directorate (ED) has conducted raids on diamond merchant Nirav Modi properties on Thursday. ED sleuths raided three locations in Surat, four in Mumbai and two in Delhi in connection with Punjab National Bank fraud case.

Earlier, ED has registered a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case against diamond merchant Nirav Modi and others in connection with cheating of Rs 280 crores in Punjab National Bank (PNB). The case has been registered on the basis of FIR filed by CBI. The agency received the complaints about the transactions detected by the public sector bank on Tuesday night.

PNB Fraud Case: ED team at Nirav Modi's showroom & office in Mumbai's Kala Ghoda. pic.twitter.com/3YQq4lyKNj

— ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2018

The complaints deal with fraudulent transactions reported from the bank's branches and the amount involved is over Rs 10,000 crore, the sources told PTI.

Early this month, the CBI had booked Nirav Modi, wife Ami, his brother Nishal Modi, all partners of Diamon R US, Solar Exports, Stellar Diamonds and Punjab National Bank officials for cheating the bank to the tune of Rs 280.7 crores.

The bank has alleged in the complaint that a fraudulent issuance of Letters of Undertakings (LOU) took place on January 16, 2018 for and on behalf of the accused firms, which approached the bank and presented a set of import documents to the branch with a request to allow buyers' credit for making payment to overseas suppliers.

Modi was named in the Forbes India's Richest People List 2016, with a net worth of $1.74 billion. Modi is known for his high-value jewellery that cost as much as Rs 50 crore and regularly features at auctions conducted by houses like Christie's and Sotheby's.

(With agency inputs)