Today, the Prevention of Money laundering Act (PMLA) court in Mumbai has given its approval to the Income-tax department to auction 68 paintings and 11 luxury cars owned by the absconding billionaire Nirav Modi in a bid to recover its dues. The development comes after Nirav Modi was arrested in London.
Special Court (PMLA), Mumbai also allowed Income Tax Authorities to auction 68 paintings owned by Nirav Modi with direction to deposit the auction proceeds with ED.
— ED (@dir_ed) March 20, 2019
In one of their search operations, the Income-tax department had seized 173 paintings from the Mumbai office of Camelot Enterprises Private, a purported shell company of Modi, which has defaulted on Rs 96 crore in taxes. The Enforcement Directorate had provisionally attached the paintings, following which the tax authorities have moved to special court seeking the auction of 68 paintings to recover the outstanding amount.
Today Special Court (PMLA) Mumbai was pleased to allow ED to auction 11 vehicles (Rolls Royce, Porsche, Mercedes and Toyota Fortuner etc.) owned by Nirav Modi in #bankfraud case. 1 pic.twitter.com/dSXmEEReu5
— ED (@dir_ed) March 20, 2019
Nirav Modi also owns a fleet of luxury cars including a Rolls Royce Ghost and a Porsche Panamera. The ED was granted permission by the special court to sell 11 cars owned by Nirav Modi. The cars include Rolls Royce, Porsche, Mercedes, Fortuner etc. The cars and paintings will be auctioned to raise the tax dues.
Granting the permission to auction Modi’s cars and paintings, the PMLA court had also instructed the I-T department to obtain dues and deposit the remaining sale proceeds as fixed deposits in State Bank of India (SBI), with a copy of the receipt to be submitted to the court. Acting on the request of ED, the court has also issued a non-bailable warrant against Ami Modi, Nirav Modi’s wife.
Ever since Nirav Modi has fled India after the PNB bank fraud of Rs 13000 crores unearthed, several investigative agencies have relentlessly come down hard against his illegal practices. The ED has attached several of Nirav Modi’s properties and bank accounts worth thousands of crores. Interpol has issued red corner notices for Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, Purvi Modi and Nishal Modi, Nirav’s sister and brother respectively.
