CBI files FIR against Gitanjali Gems, Choksi

New Delhi: The CBI on Friday registered a fresh FIR against the Gitanjali Group promoted by Mehul Choksi, uncle of billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi, following a complaint from Punjab National Bank, and approached the Interpol to locate them.

Officials said the fresh FIR was based on a complaint from the PNB dated February 13. According to it, the alleged loss to PNB was over Rs 4,886 crore, they said.The agency has also carried out searches on the premises of the Gitanjali Group at 20 places in Mumbai, Pune, Surat, Jaipur, Hyderabad and Coimbatore.

“Searches are at locations belonging to Gitanjali group of Mehul Choksi other directors of the accused companies and other group factories and plants including offices, factories and residences,” a CBI spokesperson said.

The officials also said the central agency approached the Interpol with a request for issuing diffusion notice which was aimed at locating an individual. The CBI was confident about getting a location of Modi and his family soon, they said.

Modi, who was alleged to have carried out fraudulent transactions worth over Rs 11,400 crore in PNB, had left the country in the first week of January.The 46-year old, who holds an Indian passport, left India on January 1, while his brother Nishal, a Belgian citizen, departed from the country on same day. However, whether they travelled together has to be probed, they said. Modi’s wife Ami, a US citizen, left on January 6 and Mehul Choksi left on January 4, the officials said.

The CBI and the Enforcement Directorate have approached the government seeking revocation of passports of Modi and Choksi. The billionaire diamond merchant, a regular on the lists of rich and famous Indians since 2013, was booked by the CBI, along with wife, brother and Choksi on January 31, for allegedly cheating the state-run PNB to the tune of Rs 280 crore.

The bank again approached the CBI within a fortnight of the first complaint giving details of more transactions which were over Rs 11,400 crore. The question as to why the PNB did not send a complaint to the CBI and decided to give it in tranches is also under the scanner of the agency, they said.