Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi’s three luxurious flats in Mumbai are now posing a problem for Enforcement Directorate officials as they don’t know who will look after its maintenance post confiscation. The three flats are caught up in a legal hurdle as Modi is not in India presently.
According to a Times of India report, ED officials are looking at two ways but both do not seem feasible. One of the ways could be auctioning the sea-facing flats off but it is unlikely to get the expected market price of Rs 110 crore for it. Another way could be the government maintaining the posh flats, but since it comes with costly paintings and other household goods, even that is not viable.
The apartments have been locked shut for the past five years, ever since Nirav Modi fled the country. Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi are accused of duping PNB, a public sector bank, of Rs 13,000 crore using letters of undertaking (LoUs) and foreign letters of credit (FLCs) by bribing its officials at the Brady House branch in Mumbai.
In case of turning the apartments into guest houses, huge costs would follow through which would be a problem for the probe agency, the news report further said. Expenses would include refurbishing and maintenance bills, and officials would also have to ensure household items, utensils and paintings are intact.
“Converting the three into guesthouses would be more expensive than a five-star hotel stay”, TOI quoted the officials as saying. Shifting the items lying inside along with all the expensive household utensils and paintings in the flats would pose a problem for ED officials.
ED also cited the example of late drug smuggler Iqbal Mirchi’s confiscated premises, which are now used as the probe agency’s ‘Zone 2 Office’. Leaving the assets at Nirav’s apartments as is without any maintenance, would also increase the risk of them getting deteriorated. ED is in touch with officials in Delhi to look for a solution to the problem, but have not come up with one.
Meanwhile, a special PMLA court on Tuesday granted bail to Subash Parab, a close aide of Nirav Modi, in the multi-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case. India had issued an Interpol Red Notice against Parab to track him down and bring him back. In February, he was granted bail in a related case being probed by the CBI.
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