ED wants wives of Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi to be designated as fugitive economic offenders

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has decided to initiate proceedings under the Fugitive Economic Offenders (FEO) Act against the wives of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi in the ₹13,000 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, people familiar with the development said.

The step will allow the agency to confiscate their properties in India and abroad without waiting for a trial conviction.

The financial crimes probe agency will file separate applications against Ami Nirav Modi and Priti Choksi, whom officials believe reside in the US and Belgium, respectively. Designating them as fugitive economic offenders would allow ED to confiscate their property anywhere in the world, without a conviction.

“We have decided to start FEOA proceedings against Ami Nirav Modi and Priti Choksi, who played a key role in laundering the funds siphoned off by their spouses from the PNB. We will identify assets held by these two in India and abroad, and confiscate them,” said an officer, who asked not to be named.

The stringent law, enacted in 2018, also bars a fugitive economic offender from pursuing civil claims in India, including filing or defending civil proceedings, unless they are physically present here.

Modi has been in a UK prison since Scotland Yard arrested him on March 19, 2019, at India’s request, and is accused of defrauding PNB of ₹6,498 crore—part of a total ₹13,578 crore fraud. His uncle Mehul Choksi, who is lodged in a jail in Antwerp after being taken into custody last April, is accused of fraud worth ₹7,000 crore in linked cases.

India is pursuing extradition from both countries. Legal proceedings in London and Brussels have progressed in India’s favour, but the decision on their return rests with the respective governments.

Nirav Modi was declared a FEO in December 2019 while similar proceedings against Mehul Choksi are in the final stages before a Mumbai court.

In February this year, ED moved applications before a Mumbai court to declare Nirav Modi’s brothers, Nehal and Neeshal Modi, and two key associates, Aditya Nanavati and Sandeep Mistry, fugitive economic offenders under the 2018 law.

Mistry was caught and deported by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in September and taken into custody by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

According to the ED charge sheet filed in March 2019, Ami Modi allegedly used an international bank account to move $30 million. The money was allegedly siphoned using fraudulent LoUs (letters of undertaking) issued by PNB’s Brady House branch in Mumbai and was used to buy property in New York’s Central Park area.

Ami, who left the country with Nirav Modi and other family members in the first week of January 2018, was a director in some of the companies allegedly used to launder the fraud proceeds, a second officer said.

Interpol issued a red notice against her in August 2020.

According to a March 2022 ED charge sheet, Priti Choksi alias Priti Pradyotkumar Kothari was the ultimate beneficial owner of three UAE companies allegedly used by Mehul Choksi to route and park funds obtained through the fraud.

“Priti Choksi was fully aware that the companies were beneficially owned and controlled by her husband Mehul Choksi. She helped him incorporate firms in the UAE to acquire properties therein,” ED said in the charge sheet. She lived with Mehul Choksi in Antigua and Barbuda until they fled from there to Belgium last year.

HT could not immediately reach legal representatives for Ami Modi and Priti Choksi for comment.

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  Neeraj Chauhan is a senior journalist with Hindustan Times and an investigative reporter specialising in national security, terrorism, organised crime, narcotics, corruption, financial crime and complex investigations. With over 21 years of experience across Hindustan Times, The Times of India, The Indian Express and The Pioneer, he has built deep expertise in India’s internal security and law-enforcement landscape. Neeraj has extensively covered India’s principal investigative, intelligence and security agencies, including the NIA, CBI, ED, IB, R&AW, MHA and other central security forces. His work has included deeply reported investigations into terrorism, terror financing, cross-border crime, narcotics trafficking, cybercrime, financial fraud and political and corporate corruption. He has reported on some of the most significant terror attacks and security developments in India over the past two decades, including the Delhi serial blasts, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the 2019 Pulwama terror attack and the recent Pahalgam attack. His reporting has also chronicled the rise and decline of the Indian Mujahideen, the activities and subsequent crackdown on the Popular Front of India (PFI), Islamist extremist networks, the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir, insurgencies in the Northeast and Maoist violence. Some of Neeraj’s major breaking stories are in Aryan Khan drug case, Sushant Singh Rajput suicide, interception of a 3,000-kg Afghan heroin consignment worth about ₹21,000 crore at Mundra port, Sri Lanka easter bombings, Aarushi-Hemraj murders in Noida, 2G scam, coal block allocation scam, AgustWestland VVIP chopper deal and major bank frauds and extradition cases involving Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya. His reporting is marked by an ability to cultivate sources, analyse confidential and complex documents, and follow investigations over several years—from the initial breakthrough to chargesheets, trials and international legal proceedings. He specialises in making complicated security and investigative developments accessible while examining their wider implications for governance and public policy. A Chevening South Asia Journalism Programme Fellow at the University of Westminster, Neeraj also spent time at the Financial Times as part of the fellowship. He was also a Robert Bosch Media Ambassadors India-Germany Fellow, studying at the University of Tübingen and working with Der Tagesspiegel in Berlin. He has previously taught investigative journalism and crime reporting as a guest faculty member at the Times School of Journalism. Over more than two decades, Neeraj has established himself as an authoritative voice on India’s national security and investigative landscape, with his reporting closely followed by officials, investigators, lawyers, policymakers and readers seeking insight into some of the country’s most complex and consequential developments.Read More