The international criminal police organisation Interpol has issued a global arrest warrant against the wife of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi. Ami Modi, the wife of the prime accused of the over 2$ billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud has been charged of money laundering. The global police body has also issued a ‘red corner notice’ against her on the request of the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
After the CBI in 2018 registered FIRs against Nirav Modi and his family, Modi and his family fled India in the first week of January amidst the CBI investigation on the PNB fraud. The ED has charged Ami Modi for conspiring and laundering money along with her husband and jeweller, Nirav Modi under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). There have also been earlier Interpol notices issued against Modi’s step-brother, Nehal Modi, and sister, Purvi Modi.
The ED, till date, has confiscated around Rs 329 crore worth property linked to Nirav Modi. Mehul Choksi, Nirav’s uncle, and also a fugitive businessman, is also being probed by the ED on money laundering of over 2$ billion alleged PNB fraud case at the PNB branch in Mumbai.
Nirav Modi has been lodged in a jail since he was arrested in London in March 2019. He has also been considered a fugitive economic offender early this year by a Mumbai court. In June, the court also confiscated all his assets under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.
Reports also said the agency has found Ami Modi and her children as the beneficiary of The Ithaca Trust through which two apartments in Central Park worth $29.99 million were acquired in New York.