Nirav Modi case: 6 Samudra flats worth Rs 900 crore
A preliminary assessment by the income tax (I-T) department in the Nirav Modi case suggests that of the 29 properties attached a few days ago, six flats owned by Nirav and his wife at Samudra Mahal in Worli, Mumbai, alone were worth over Rs 900 crore, while the total value of the properties attached runs into thousands of crores.
All the six sea-facing flats at Samudra Mahal are registered jointly in the names of Nirav and wife Ami Modi, with each estimated to be worth over Rs 150 crore, a top I-T official said. The couple also jointly own 4, Grosvenor House, on Mumbai’s Peddar Road, which is among the 29 properties attached by the I-T department.
Nirav’s Firestar International Pvt Ltd is the owner of 15 high-value immovable assets in Mumbai, including a commercial property at Bandra Kurla Complex; a flat at Prasad Chambers in Opera House; ITTS House at Kala Ghoda in Fort Mumbai; a floor in Trade Point, Lower Parel, Kamala Mills; Army Navy Press building at MIDC, Andheri. Firestar also owns a house in Delhi’s Defence Colony. The I-T department has sought information from authorities in the Bahamas, Singapore and Jersey on Nirav’s Montecristo Trust (registered in Jersey) and some suspicious financial transactions from these tax havens.
Tax authorities are investigating two transactions - Rs 284 crore received by one of Nirav’s companies in India from Jade Bridge Holdings Pvt Ltd, Cyprus, and another Rs 271 crore received from Singapore-based Islington International Holdings. A probe found that the beneficial owner of Islington International is Nirav’s sister Purvi Mehta.
Nirav and Ami also jointly own two properties in Hadapsar, Pune, while Firestar owns huge plots at special economic zones (SEZs) in Jaipur and Surat, besides other properties in these cities.
On Saturday, the I-T department had attached seven properties of Mehul Choksi, Nirav’s business partner and a co-accused in the Rs 11,300 crore Punjab National Bank swindle. The properties include three registered in his name in Mumbai - 9th and 10th floors at Gokul in Walkeshwar and two flats at Spring Tower in Wadala.
Choksi’s other attached properties are registered in the name of his companies Gitanjali Gems Ltd and Gili India Ltd at Prasad Chambers, Opera House; Laxmi Tower in Bandra Kurla Complex and two properties at Seepz in Andheri East.
The I-T department has also attached nine bank accounts of Choksi, and 105 of Nirav and his companies. Before the I-T department attached these accounts, Choksi managed to take out money from most of them and several accounts were found to have zero balance.
For instance, Gitanjali Gems Ltd had an account each in Allahabad Bank, IndusInd Bank and Oriental Bank in Mumbai. Two of these accounts had zero balance while the third had a debit balance of Rs 2.29 crore. Choksi’s personal accounts in IndusInd Bank and Bank of Baroda had a balance of Rs 7.74 lakh and Rs 34,474 respectively. His third account in Bank of Baroda is dormant. Gili India has two accounts, at Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank, with a balance of Rs 40 lakh and zero, respectively. Choksi’s company Nakshatra World Ltd, formerly known as Gitanjali Brands Ltd, had its account at the Nariman Point branch of ICICI, with a balance of Rs 33.93 lakh at the time of attachment.
All the six sea-facing flats at Samudra Mahal are registered jointly in the names of Nirav and wife Ami Modi, with each estimated to be worth over Rs 150 crore, a top I-T official said. The couple also jointly own 4, Grosvenor House, on Mumbai’s Peddar Road, which is among the 29 properties attached by the I-T department.
Nirav’s Firestar International Pvt Ltd is the owner of 15 high-value immovable assets in Mumbai, including a commercial property at Bandra Kurla Complex; a flat at Prasad Chambers in Opera House; ITTS House at Kala Ghoda in Fort Mumbai; a floor in Trade Point, Lower Parel, Kamala Mills; Army Navy Press building at MIDC, Andheri. Firestar also owns a house in Delhi’s Defence Colony. The I-T department has sought information from authorities in the Bahamas, Singapore and Jersey on Nirav’s Montecristo Trust (registered in Jersey) and some suspicious financial transactions from these tax havens.
Tax authorities are investigating two transactions - Rs 284 crore received by one of Nirav’s companies in India from Jade Bridge Holdings Pvt Ltd, Cyprus, and another Rs 271 crore received from Singapore-based Islington International Holdings. A probe found that the beneficial owner of Islington International is Nirav’s sister Purvi Mehta.
Nirav and Ami also jointly own two properties in Hadapsar, Pune, while Firestar owns huge plots at special economic zones (SEZs) in Jaipur and Surat, besides other properties in these cities.
On Saturday, the I-T department had attached seven properties of Mehul Choksi, Nirav’s business partner and a co-accused in the Rs 11,300 crore Punjab National Bank swindle. The properties include three registered in his name in Mumbai - 9th and 10th floors at Gokul in Walkeshwar and two flats at Spring Tower in Wadala.
Choksi’s other attached properties are registered in the name of his companies Gitanjali Gems Ltd and Gili India Ltd at Prasad Chambers, Opera House; Laxmi Tower in Bandra Kurla Complex and two properties at Seepz in Andheri East.
The I-T department has also attached nine bank accounts of Choksi, and 105 of Nirav and his companies. Before the I-T department attached these accounts, Choksi managed to take out money from most of them and several accounts were found to have zero balance.
For instance, Gitanjali Gems Ltd had an account each in Allahabad Bank, IndusInd Bank and Oriental Bank in Mumbai. Two of these accounts had zero balance while the third had a debit balance of Rs 2.29 crore. Choksi’s personal accounts in IndusInd Bank and Bank of Baroda had a balance of Rs 7.74 lakh and Rs 34,474 respectively. His third account in Bank of Baroda is dormant. Gili India has two accounts, at Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank, with a balance of Rs 40 lakh and zero, respectively. Choksi’s company Nakshatra World Ltd, formerly known as Gitanjali Brands Ltd, had its account at the Nariman Point branch of ICICI, with a balance of Rs 33.93 lakh at the time of attachment.