PNB scam: I-T report that red-flagged Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi 8 months earlier, was not shared

Eight months before the Nirav Modi-Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam came to light, bogus purchases, over-valuation of stocks, suspicious payments to relatives and dubious loans, among others were red-flagged in an Income Tax investigation report, The Indian Express has reported.

The tax department report on Modi and Mehul Choksi, which ran into around 10,000 pages, was however not shared with any other agency. The report was finalised by the agency on June 8, 2017, according to the newspaper report.

The exhaustive report was only shared with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED), Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in February when the PNB scam came to light, the newspaper report stated.

The two fugitive diamond jewellers Modi and Choksi and their three partnership companies -- Diamond ‘R’ US, Stellar Diamonds and Solar Exports -- are accused of routing Rs 13,500 crore worth of fraudulent transactions through PNB, a public sector bank.

Modi and Choksi had left India in early January, weeks before the scam came to light.

The newspaper report, citing a senior tax official, suggests that the investigation report on Modi and Choksi was not shared with other agencies because there was 'no protocol' for such sharing at that time.