Swiss authorities freeze Nirav Modi and sister’s bank accounts in connection to PNB fraud

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Jun 27, 2019

Swiss authorities have frozen four bank accounts belonging to accused jeweller Nirav Modi and his sister Purvi on behalf of the Enforcement Directorate as part of its investigation into the Punjab National Bank fraud.

Nirav Modi and his sister’s four Swiss bank accounts with combined funds of Rs 283.16 crore have been frozen by Swiss authorities as requested by the ED, official sources told the Press Trust of India. The sources told that Nirav Modi’s accounts total $37.41 million and his sister Purvi’s total £2.74 million.

The ED had informed Swiss authorities that the money kept in the four accounts was the proceeds of a crime and sent an official request for the accounts to be frozen. The request was made under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

Following the freezing of the accounts, the ED will now seek to attach them to the case against Modi under the PMLA. Modi is accused along with his sister, uncle and fellow jeweller Mehul Choksi and several others of defrauding the Punjab National Bank to the tune of around Rs 13,500 crore, one of the largest scale frauds in India’s banking history.