Enforcement Directorate to file charges against Modi, Choksi next week

New Delhi: A week after filing chargesheet by the CBI in the multi-crore PNB scam, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is now preparing to file its probe report against Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi under stringent provisions of the money laundering act. The ED, sources said, is expected to file its chargesheet by the end of this month.

The ED has already moved the Interpol for issuance of a red corner notice against Mr Modi and Mr Choksi in connection with the case. Sources said the agency had sought issuance of the Interpol warrant against the two, based on court-issued non-bailable warrants obtained by it in a money laundering case. The agency is understood to have sent the request to the CBI, nodal agency for the Interpol in India, for taking it up with the Interpol headquarters in Lyon, France.

A red corner notice (RCN) is issued “to seek the arrest of wanted persons with a view to extradition or similar lawful action” in a criminal case probe. “Once an RCN is issued, the Interpol seeks to arrest the person concerned in any part of the world and notifies that country to take his or her custody for further action at their end,” sources said, adding that the chargesheet by the ED will soon be filed against the accused.

The chargesheet filed by the CBI will also help the agency in expediting the extradition process against Mr Modi and Mr Choksi, sources said.

The CBI last week filed its first chargesheet in the alleged Rs 13,400 crore PNB fraud case involving Mr Modi and his uncle Choksi. In the chargesheet, the agency detailed the role of the bank’s former chief Usha Ananthasubramanian, who is now Allahabad Bank CEO and MD. The CBI chargesheet, filed in Mumbai sessions court, also named several other top officials of the bank including PNB executive directors K.V. Brahmaji Rao and Sanjiv Sharan, and general manager (international operations) Nehal Ahad.

The CBI, in its chargesheet, detailed the roles of Mr Modi, his brother Nishal Modi and Subhash Parab, an executive in Nirav Modi’s company.