Sahara Force India is not up for sale, says Vijay Mallya aide

Sahara Force India is not up for sale. This is the defiant stand of the Vijay Mallya-owned Britain-based Formula 1 motor racing team, despite months of speculation that the company may change hands.

Meanwhile, Mallya has appealed against freezing of his assets last month by the high court of England and Wales, which upheld a ruling by a tribunal in India. Now living in London, Mallya has for over a year been battling against the central government in British courts to resist extradition to India and freezing of his assets. In the first instance, a final hearing is scheduled for July 11 at a ...Read Full Story

PNB scam: Nirav wants assets back; Delhi HC says case sketchy; top updates

Accused in the Rs 127-billion Punjab national bank (PNB fraud, Nirav Modi might breathe smooth as the Delhi high court on Wednesday called the case towards the absconding diamantaire "sketchy". The court docket also issued a word to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on a plea filed by means of Modi.

The Delhi high court decide stated, "... want to wait to see what the ED has to mention due to the fact Vijay Aggarwal (Nirav Modi's lawyer) himself would not seem to be too positive of the records of the case."
meanwhile, Nirav Modi wants the ED movement of seizing his property and depositing it with the PNB quashed.
Alarmingly, the extent of the unravelling fraud at PNB should upward thrust beyond the nearly $2-billion mark thus far outlined with the aid of the country-owned lender.

Modi, his uncle Mehul Choksi, and others are being investigated by means of a couple of probe companies after the scam recently came to light following a grievance through the PNB that they had allegedly cheated the nationalised financial institution, with the purported involvement of some bank personnel. The ED has registered a cash laundering case towards Nirav Modi, his firms, and others on the premise of a principal Bureau of investigation (CBI) first facts record (FIR).

PNB fraud: Nirav Modi may face non-bailable warrant; top 10 developments

Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi's overseas businesses and assets across more than a dozen countries are under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which will soon send judicial requests to countries like Belgium, Hong Kong, Switzerland, the United States, the United Kingdom, Dubai, Singapore, and South Africa for obtaining information about them as part of the widening of its probe into the Rs 114-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB fraud case.

Nirav Modi, his wife Ami, and uncle Mehul Choksi have been summoned by the ED to appear at its zonal office in Mumbai on Monday. According to sources, if they skip the summons, the agency could approach a special PMLA court to get non-bailable warrants issued against them.
Modi has already had his luxury cars, including a Rolls Royce Ghost, a Mercedes Benz, and a Porsche Panamera, and imported watches, seized in the past week. During the weekend, the Income-Tax department seized over 150 paintings by renowned artists from Nirav Modi's warehouse located at Wadala in Mumbai.

While probe agencies continue to put pressure on Modi and Choksi, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) assured of an "accelerated inquiry" into auditors' role in the PNB fraud.

PNB fraud: Nirav Modi's Rolls Royce, Porsche seized; top 10 developments

Nirav Modi's luxury cars, including a Rolls Royce Ghost, a Mercedes Benz, and a Porsche Panamera, have been seized by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the Rs 114-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case. Further, assets worth almost Rs 1 billion belonging to Modi and Choksi have been frozen by the probe agency.

The ED is also probing 120 shell companies allegedly linked to Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi. Further, the IT department has attached Rs 1.45 billion belonging to Nirav Modi.

Here are the top 10 developments in the banking scam that has gripped the country's financial sector:
1) ED seizes Nirav Modi's Rolls Royce Ghost and other luxury cars: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said it had frozen mutual funds and shares worth Rs 945.2 million (Rs 94.52 crore) of the Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi groups in connection with the money laundering probe against them in the Rs 114-billion (Rs 11,400-crore) alleged PNB fraud at PNB.
It also seized nine high-end luxury cars of Modi as part of its investigation against him under the criminal provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

PNB scam: Govt opposes PIL for Nirav Modi extradition; top 10 developments

The matter of absconding businessman Nirav Modi's possible extradition and a probe into the role of the bank's top management in the Rs 114-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case reached the Supreme Court on Wednesday, with the Centre opposing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking such an action.

Opposing the PIL, Attorney General K K Venugopal told a Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A M Khanwilkar, and Justice D Y Chandrachud that an FIR had already been filed in the multi-billion PNB fraud case and a probe was going on. As Venugopal rose to oppose the PIL, petitioner lawyer Vineet Dhanda urged the Bench to issue a notice to the Centre as the "kingpin of the scam Nirav Modi" had run away with the "common man's savings".

Further, carrying forward with the arrests it made on Tuesday, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday said that it has arrested a General Manager rank officer of the PNB in connection with the Nirav Modi fraud case. "Rajesh Jindal, who was holding the charge of Brady House Branch Head between August 2009 and May 2011 was arrested on Tuesday night from Mumbai," a CBI official said. It was during Jindal's tenure at the Brady House that the alleged fraud took place, the CBI officer said.

PMO was aware of the PNB scam almost two years ago: Congress

PNB Scam - The Congress on Thursday said that a whistleblower had alerted the government in 2016 about the Rs 115 billion banking fraud by fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi but Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley ignored the tip.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said whistleblower Hari Prasad had written to the Prime Minister's Office as early as July 2016, alerting the government about the "biggest bank loot scam in 70 years" in independent India.

"What does the Prime Minister do? Nothing. What does the Finance Ministry do? Nothing.

What does the Corporate Affairs Ministry do? Nothing. What does the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Finance Ministry do? Nothing," Surjewala told reporters on Thursday.

"You are in power, a fraud is happening under your nose. What were you doing and how did they let the accused escape? Face the truth and answer questions."

He also asked Prime Minister Modi what the fugitive billionaire was doing with him at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January.