The Enforcement Directorate will sell 173 paintings and 11 vehicles "beneficially owned" by Nirav Modi after it obtained permission from a special court in Mumbai on Wednesday, officials said. The same court, they said, also issued a non-bailable warrant against his wife Ami after the ED recently filed a supplementary charge sheet underlining her role in the USD 2 billion PNB scam.
The ED will put on sale the 173 paintings of Modi which are valued at Rs 57.72 crore and eleven vehicles that include Rolls Royce, Porsche, Mercedes and Toyota Fortuner. A public auction will be held later this month, the officials said.
The court, they said, also allowed the Income Tax Department to sell another 68 paintings seized by it as part of its separate probe against the absconding diamantaire. Earlier today, Nirav Modi was arrested from London's Holborn metro station, UK Police was quoted as saying by ANI. He will be produced in Westminster court later today.
The provisional arrest warrant against the billionaire, who was recently spotted on the streets of London wearing an Ostrich skin jacket worth almost Rs 10 lakh, was issued by the Westminster court. On March 18, the court had issued an arrest warrant against Nirav Modi in response to a request by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for his extradition from the UK in a money laundering case.
The Congress, however, said that Nirav Modi’s arrest was an attempt by the NDA government to win the Lok Sabha Elections. Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said that “Modi government had sent Nirav Modi outside India, now it is bringing him to win elections.”
"Nirav Deepak Modi, 48 (Date of Birth 24.02.71), was arrested on behalf of the Indian Authorities on Tuesday, 19 March, in Holborn," the Metropolitan Police said in a statement. "He will appear in custody at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, 20 March," the statement added.
Also read: Nirav Modi, fugitive diamantaire, arrested in London, to be produced in Westminster court shortly
It would seem that his arrest is on an extradition warrant, details of which would become clear when he appears before Westminster Magistrates' Court in London. The prime accused in the $2 billion PNB fraud case, Modi was given ‘Gold Visa’ by the UK government for his stay in London. Living in a palatial 8-million-pound apartment, Nirav Modi had allegedly already started a new business called Diamond Holdings. The details, which have been reported by the Times of India on Saturday last week, show that the absconding diamantaire is not affected by any probe back home in India.
According to the report, the ‘Gold Visa’, which was introduced by the UK government in 2008, allows a person to stay, set up business or study in the country for period of five years. The only prerequisite is that the candidate must give 2-million-pound investment commitment to the authorities.
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