Mumbai: A special CBI court on Monday filed its third supplementary chargesheet in the Nirav Modi-Punjab National Bank fraud case, naming Modi’s sister Purvi Mehta and senior company executive Aditya Nanavati as accused.
Meanwhile, Modi remains incarcerated in London’s Wandsworth Prison as India’s extradition request for the fugitive diamantaire continues to be processed.
The CBI prosecutor A Lemozine on Monday submitted the chargesheet before the special CBI court adding Mehta, a Belgian citizen as an accused as she is claimed to be one of the beneficiaries of the funds received through letters of understanding (LoUs) obtained from PNB bank. The agency has, however, not named her husband Maiank Mehta, a British citizen, as an accused in the case.
Purvi and Maiank were also named as accused by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). However, she has now turned approver in the case and has given a statement against her brother. The ED had alleged that Modi had diverted around Rs 1,201.18 crore (USD175.1 million) through his sister Purvi.
The ED in its prosecution complaint had claimed that Purvi was an active participant in the generation of proceeds of crime and the activity of money laundering. It claimed that she was a director in Dubai and Hong Kong-based companies, which received funds obtained through LoUs by Nirav. However, Purvi has maintained that she had no knowledge about these transactions.
Nanavati was senior executive of Modi’s firm and was heading Asia–Pacific region. Meanwhile, the agency has yet to name Mehul Choksi and Modi’s wife Ami in the chargesheet as the sources claimed that they had resigned from Modi’s firms years before the alleged fraud took place.
The court has now sent the chargesheet for verification and cognizance of the chargesheet submitted by CBI.
