The Enforcement Directorate is preparing to initiate proceedings against the wives of fugitive diamond traders Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi in connection with the alleged 13,578-crore rupees Punjab National Bank fraud. The central financial investigation agency plans to file separate applications before a special court under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018, seeking to formally declare Ami Nirav Modi and Priti Choksi as fugitive economic offenders. The proposed legal measure aims to pave the way for the identification, attachment, and eventual confiscation of properties and assets held by them both within India and across overseas jurisdictions, expanding the recovery drive beyond the primary accused.
Allegations of offshore fund transfers and shell entities
Investigators suspect that both women actively handled and routed proceeds generated through fraudulent transactions orchestrated through Punjab National Bank’s Brady House branch in Mumbai. According to details recorded in the agency’s March 2019 chargesheet, Ami Modi allegedly utilized an international bank account to transfer 30 million dollars, funds that investigators claim originated from fraudulent letters of undertaking. The agency alleges that this capital was subsequently deployed to purchase real estate in the Central Park area of New York, while also linking her to directorships in entities utilized to channel illicit funds before she departed India in January 2018.
In the case of Priti Choksi, who is also known as Priti Pradyotkumar Kothari, the agency’s March 2022 chargesheet identified her as the ultimate beneficial owner of three corporate entities registered in the United Arab Emirates. The Enforcement Directorate alleges that these Gulf-based firms functioned as conduits to hold and redirect illicit financial flows derived from the banking fraud. Investigators further maintain that she assisted in establishing corporate entities used to acquire properties abroad, functioning with full knowledge of her husband’s beneficial control over the assets.
Scale of bank fraud and ongoing extradition proceedings
The broader banking scandal involves fraudulent credit instruments estimated at approximately 13,578 crore rupees across allied cases. Nirav Modi faces allegations of defrauding the public lender of roughly 6,498 crore rupees through unauthorized letters of undertaking used to secure overseas credit. He was formally declared a fugitive economic offender in December 2019 and remains lodged in a British prison following his arrest in London in March 2019, with Indian authorities actively pursuing his extradition through British courts.
His uncle, Mehul Choksi, is accused of orchestrating related fraudulent transactions amounting to approximately 7,000 crore rupees. After residing in Antigua and Barbuda, Choksi relocated to Belgium, where he was taken into custody in April last year and remains detained in Antwerp pending extradition proceedings. While the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act empowers authorities to confiscate domestic and international properties of individuals evading trial, the actual seizure of overseas properties remains contingent upon international judicial cooperation and local legal processes.
Wider net cast over business associates and family members
The proposed applications against Ami Modi and Priti Choksi mark a wider enforcement strategy targeting the close circle and corporate network surrounding the two diamond merchants. The Enforcement Directorate has previously approached the courts to declare Nirav Modi’s brothers, Nehal Modi and Neeshal Modi, along with close business associates Aditya Nanavati and Sandeep Mistry, as fugitive economic offenders. Mistry was deported from the United Arab Emirates to India in September and subsequently taken into custody by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The proceedings under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act require the agency to establish a prima facie evidentiary trail demonstrating that the accused knowingly participated in laundering the proceeds of crime and deliberately fled Indian jurisdiction to avoid prosecution. While Interpol previously issued a Red Notice against Ami Modi in August 2020, the allegations against both women remain subject to judicial determination. Legal responses from their representatives were not immediately available as the court prepares to consider the forthcoming applications.
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