Nirav Modi, Choksi summoned, asked to appear before court or be declared fugitives

The special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Court in Mumbai on Thursday issued summons against diamond jeweller Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi to appear before court or be declared fugitives.

Niram Modi and Mehul Choksi have been asked to appear before the court on September 26 and 27 respectively.

The move comes following reports that Mehul Choksi, a key accused in the multi-crore PNB scam had moved to Antigua from the United States (US) and got a local passport.

Reportedly, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had been informed by Antiguan authorities that Choksi arrived there this month and had taken the passport of that country.

The agency had recently moved the court seeking to declare the diamond traders as 'fugitive economic offenders' and to confiscate their assets worth Rs 3,500 crore in the case.

Earlier, the ED had filed two separate applications against the duo before the special court that hears matters under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Parliament yesterday only passed the fugitive bill by a voice vote in the Rajya Sabha. The Lok Sabha had cleared this Bill on July 19.

The agency, early this month, had moved a similar application against businessman Vijay Mallya in the Rs 9,000-crore alleged bank loan fraud case and the court has summoned him for August 27.

Nirav Modi and Choksi are being investigated by the ED and the CBI after it was detected that they allegedly cheated the Punjab National Bank of more than Rs 13,400 crore with the purported involvement of a few of its employees.

The scam, which reportedly began in 2011, was detected in January this year, after which PNB officials reported it to the probe agencies.