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Nirav's A-Team that may have helped him pull off Rs 14,000-cr scam
How did fugitive jeweller Nirav Modi pull off what he is accused of — the country’s biggest banking fraud at Punjab National Bank, worth over Rs 14,000 crore — without an army of trusted lieutenants while keeping his moves under wraps? After all, he employed over 2,200 people and it’s a matter of conjecture as to why someone didn’t blow the whistle earlier. It turns out that while his family council was involved, he also — according to a report submitted to a US Bankruptcy Court by an appointed examiner — had a highly organised core management team. The common denominator: They were predominantly Gujarati, mostly male, and either related by blood or very well-known to Nirav.
The family: Nishal Modi who was his half-brother and in charge of diamond trading was a director and has a look out notice on him and is wanted by the authorities. Nehal Modi, Nirav’s other brother in New York was reportedly a consultant with Firestar and involved with the Ithaca Trust, an entity set up to fund and buy real estate for the fugitive jeweller through questionable sources of finance.
Mehul Choksi, Nirav’s uncle and mentor, and boss of Gitanjali Group, is hiding out in Antigua. Purvi Modi Mehta, Nirav’s sister, managed the Hong Kong business but was not a key director in the holding companies, sources say, adding that she and the brothers were intentionally put in positions with no or very limited liability, but supported Nirav by transferring funds when required. Nirav’s wife Ami Modi is supposedly in the United States and like Purvi assisted by transferring funds through her account when required, according to the examiner’s report. There’s a look out notice on her and she has also been recently charge-sheeted by the enforcement directorate.
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