Cutting Deep

Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi used some 200 shell companies to divert funds from banks

- Soumik Dey

Nirav Modi apparently had plans to flee the country in 2016 itself. It got scuttled when the taxmen raided his uncle Mehul Choksi’s Gitanjali Gems and allied firms, including Modi’s outlets. The raid was after allegations of these firms accepting demonetised currency notes. Sources in the income tax department’s investigation wing said that unaccounted money worth ₹350 crore was recovered during the raids. The department issued notices seeking explanation from Modi and Choksi, but they never replied.

Exactly a year later, on December 31, 2017, Modi threw an ultra-luxe new year party at the Four Seasons Hotel in Mumbai. The guests were the biggest businessmen and Bollywood stars, and they were served a seven-course meal by celebrity chef Massimo Bottura. Little did these guests know that the host was planning to flee the country the next day. A few weeks earlier Modi had a tip-off that Punjab National Bank was readying a complaint against him to the Bank Security and Fraud Cell of the CBI.

On New Year’s Day, Modi flew out of Mumbai along with his brother, Nishal. Modi’s parents and Nishal are Belgian citizens. “Nirav had told us that he held two passports. One from Belgium and another Indian,” said diamond merchant Sanjay Kothari, who is former chairman of Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council.