The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday raided 17 locations across India, including four shell companies in Mumbai, in connection with the alleged Rs 11,380-crore scam involving Punjab National Bank, PTI reported.
These companies were targeted as part of the agency’s crackdown on allegedly fake companies with links to jeweller Nirav Modi, who is accused of cheating the bank of crores, as well as Mehul Choksi, Modi’s uncle and Gitanjali Gems promoter.
The Income Tax Department, too, is taking action against these shell companies, which allegedly laundered large sums of money and evaded taxes. “Few more shell firms will be covered in the coming days,” PTI quoted an unidentified senior official as saying.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has booked Modi for fraud and accused him of cheating Punjab National Bank. The Rs 11,380-crore scam involves bank officials allegedly handing out fake Letters of Undertaking on behalf of companies associated with Modi, which allowed him to access massive foreign exchange loans that were completely unsecured.
Modi’s lawyer on Wednesday claimed his client had not fled the country, but was abroad on business. “This is your perception that he is absconder,” Vijay Aggarwal told reporters, according to the Business Standard. “He is not absconding. He has a global business and he went out of India on business. Now, his passport has been revoked. His family members, some of them are foreign nationals, also stay abroad most of the time.”
Earlier on Wednesday, the government opposed petitions in the Supreme Court that sought a court-monitored inquiry by a Special Investigation Team in alleged Punjab National Bank scam. Attorney General KK Venugopal told the bench that a First Information Report has been registered and an investigation was under way in the case.
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