Fresh ED crackdown: Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi’s shares and mutual funds frozen

Maharashtra: In a fresh crackdown on diamond merchant Nirav Modi and Gitanjali Group owner Mehul Choksi over allaged Rs 11,500 crore Punjab National Bank scam; the Enforcement Directorate on Thursday froze mutual funds and shares worth Rs 7.80 crore of Modi and worth Rs 86.72 crore of those belonging to Choksi group. ED further seized 9 cars belonging to Nirav Modi and his companies. These cars include Rolls Royce Ghost, two Mercedes Benz GL 250 CDIs, one Porsche Panamera, 3 Honda cars, one Toyota Fortuner and one Toyota Innova. Raids were also conducted at Modi’s farmhouse in Alibag by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). On Wednesday, diamond merchant and kingpin in the scam Nirav Modi’s lawyer claimed that “he didn’t flee the county, but was already in abroad when the matter came to light”. He further refused to tell the location of Modi and claimed that the amount money being glorified by media is false and the actual amount is around 200 crore.