PNB fraud case: Interpol's diffusion notice issued against Nirav Modi, family

In a major development to the PNB fraud case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has asked Interpol to help locate billionaire jewellery designer Nirav Modi and his family. The Interpol has issued diffusion notice against billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi, his wife Ami Modi, brother Nishal Modi and his business partner and uncle Mehul Choksi.

"This (diffusion) is less formal than a notice but is also used to request the arrest or location of an individual or additional information in relation to a police investigation. A diffusion is circulated directly by an NCB (CBI in this case) to the member countries of their choice, or to the entire INTERPOL membership and is simultaneously recorded in Interpol's Information System," the website of Interpol says.

Nirav Modi, who holds an Indian passport, left India on January 1, while his brother Nishal, a Belgian citizen, departed from the country on same day. However, whether they travelled together has to be probed.

Nirav Modi's wife Ami, a US citizen, left on January 6 and his uncle and business partner Choksi, the promoter of Gitanjali jewellery chain, left on January 4, the officials said.

Nirav Modi, who is believed to be in Switzerland, was also present in a group photograph of Indian CEOs with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, issued by the Press Information Bureau, during the World Economic Forum on January 23, six days before the bank sent its first complaint against him to the CBI, according to the officials.

Meanwhile,a look out circular has been issued by enforcement agencies to all exit and entry ports to inform them about the movement of an accused.

Earlier on THursday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided several locations of Jeweller and businessman Nirav Modi, the prime accused in multi crore Punjab National Bank or PNB fraud case.

ED sleuths conducted raids at Nirav Modi's showroom and office in Mumbai's Kala Ghoda. Apart from that, the law enforcement agency also raided Modi's three locations in Surat and two in Delhi.

State-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB), India's second biggest lender on Wednesday told the Mumbai Stock Exchange that it has detected "fraudulent and unauthorised transactions" worth USD 1.77 million (approx).

What is INTERPOL's diffusion Notice?

INTERPOL Notices are international requests for cooperation or alerts allowing police in member countries to share critical crime-related information.

In the case of Red Notices, the persons concerned are wanted by national jurisdictions for prosecution or to serve a sentence based on an arrest warrant or court decision. INTERPOL's role is to assist the national police forces in identifying and locating these persons with a view to their arrest and extradition or similar lawful action.

OneIndia News