I-T dept attaches 4 assets of Nirav Modi; look out circular issued

The Income Tax Department today attached diamantaire Nirav Modi's four immovable assets, including a farmhouse and a solar power plant, worth Rs 70 crore in connection with a tax evasion probe against him and his companies, officials said.

The department said it has also got issued a Look Out Circular (LoC), also known as a blue corner notice, against Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, the promoter of Gitanjali Gems, to keep a tab on their entry at all land, air and sea ports in the country.

According to the officials, Modi's farmhouse in Alibaug, near Mumbai, valued at Rs 13 crore, the 5.24 MW solar power plant spread in 135 acres land in Karjat in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district, along with two other properties, have been provisionally attached by the department.

"The total value of these attached assets is Rs 70 crore," a senior official said.

The department also attached 34 bank accounts and fixed deposits, valued at Rs 1.45 crore, of the Gitanjali group.

Modi, Choksi and others are being investigated by multiple probe agencies after the Punjab National Bank (PNB) disclosed a fraud, valued at close to UDS 2 billion, wherein they allegedly acquired fraudulent letters of undertaking (LoUs) from its Brady House branch in Fort area for overseas credit from other lenders.

Earlier this week, PNB had said the number of unauthorised transactions could go up by more than Rs 1,300 crore from the earlier estimate of Rs 11,400 crore.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have registered two FIRs each in this case.