CBI informs him it is mandatory for a suspect to respond to summons and join the probe, he doesn’t reply to the second email.
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), in a recent email to jeweller Nirav Modi, offered to fly him back to India to join the probe in the alleged Rs 12,600 crore scam that defrauding the Punjab National Bank.
But Modi simply replied “we are busy with our businesses here”, without disclosing where “here” was, according to CBI sources.
The CBI, in response, requested Modi to share details of his whereabouts. It again offered to arrange for his travel. “He was asked to contact the embassy in the area where he is staying, so that all arrangements to get him back could be facilitated,” a source said.
In the same mail, he was also informed that as a “suspect”, it was legally mandatory for him to respond to summons and join the investigation whenever asked. Modi has not yet replied to this email. The emails were exchanged over the last week, ThePrint has learnt.
According to some reports, Modi is said to have gone to New York. The whereabouts of his co-accused wife Ami, brother Nishal and uncle Mehul Choksi are unknown.
Sources said Modi has been asked to fly to India next week, adding that his response to the first email might have been given just because the laws make it mandatory for him to “respond” to summons.
According to the CBI, 293 Letters of Understanding worth Rs 12,600 crore were fraudulently issued to Nirav and his companies in the last two years by Punjab National Bank’s corporate branch at Brady House, Mumbai.
The Enforcement Directorate has also filed a complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The CBI has even approached Interpol for help in tracing Modi and his family.