ED has carried out searches at over 251 properties across the country and seized expensive jewellery
The Enforcement Directorate today said it has seized valuables worth over Rs 36 crore of absconding diamond jeweller Nirav Modi in connection with an ongoing probe into the Rs 12,600 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case.
An ED officer said joint searches with the CBI had been carried from Thursday to early Saturday at Nirav Modi's palatial "Samudra Mahal" home in Mumbai.
The items seized included Rs 10 crore diamond ring, antique jewellery worth Rs 15 crore, high-end watches valued at Rs 1.40 crore, Rs 10 crore worth paintings by top artists including MF Hussain, KK Hebbar and Amrita Shergil.
The searches were conducted as part of a money trail by the ED and CBI after cases were registered against Nirav Modi and his business partner and uncle Mehul Choksi of the Gitanjali Group for defrauding the banks.
Nirav Modi's palatial "Samudra Mahal" home in Mumbai was searched by the Enforcement Directorate
Mr Choksi and Mr Modi left India in January, a month before PNB filed its first complaint against them. They are still at large.
So far, the ED has carried out searches at 251 properties across the country and seized diamond, gold, pearls, precious and semi-precious stones.
The ED said it has attached immovable properties belonging to their business groups to the tune of Rs 7,638 crore.