Mehul Choksi had last month spoken on camera for the first time since the scam came to light.
Assets worth over Rs 218 crore have been attached by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) today in the Rs 13,000-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud, officials said. The assets belong to fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi, Mihir Bhansali, a close aide and US-based executive of main accused in the case Nirav Modi, and a company named AP Gems and Jewellery Park.
Mehul Choksi and celebrity jeweller Nirav Modi are being sought by multiple investigating agencies after it was revealed that the two extracted crores in loans from banks abroad on the basis of fake guarantees in the name of Punjab National Bank, India's second largest state-owned bank.
The bank said its officials at a branch in Mumbai had helped Nirav Modi and others get credit in violation of rules. The fraud was revealed earlier this year when Nirav Modi's companies sought a fresh loan.
Mehul Choksi had last month spoken on camera for the first time since the scam came to light. "All allegations against me are false and baseless," he had said.
"The Enforcement Directorate has attached my properties illegally without any basis," Mehul Choksi said from Antigua, where he has been living amid efforts in India to bring him back.
Mehul Choksi, who, along with nephew Nirav Modi, fled India in January. The businessman was granted citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda last year and he took the oath of allegiance to that country on January 15.
The government has been trying to extradite the jeweller, who left India with his nephew, celebrity diamond jeweller Nirav Modi, and went to live in Antigua and Barbuda, which granted him citizenship of last year.
There is "no question of surrendering passport", Mehul Choksi said, as it had been revoked "without explanation as to why I am a security threat".
Mehul Choksi has alleged that the cases against him are a result of political conspiracy, after which India's extradition request was put on hold by the Interpol.