The Enforcement Directorate has moved a court here seeking to declare Nehal Modi, brother of diamantaire Nirav Modi, a “fugitive economic offender” in the alleged Punjab National Bank scam.
Identifying Nehal Modi as a prime co-conspirator in the money-laundering case, the ED told the court that it had identified ₹6,498.20 crore as proceeds of crime, well above the ₹100 crore statutory threshold required for proceedings under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.
If declared a fugitive economic offender, his properties in India and abroad could be confiscated.
Nehal Modi has deliberately avoided joining the investigation and trial proceedings in India, the ED said in its application, seen by ET.
Terming him a close associate of Nirav Modi, the prime accused, the ED alleged that he was involved in layering and transferring tainted funds generated from the scam and managed entities that reportedly received at least $50 million in fraudulent funds from Nirav Modi’s dummy companies. It claimed that, as the protector and investment advisor of ‘The Ithaca Trust’, he oversaw the movement of about $30 million of proceeds of crime for the purchase of properties in the US.
The agency alleged that Nehal Modi physically removed significant assets from overseas jurisdictions, including diamonds worth $6 million, 150 boxes of pearls from Hong Kong, AED 3.5 million in cash, and 50 kg of gold from Dubai. He is also accused of directing the destruction of digital evidence, including mobile phones and a secure server in Dubai, and engaging in witness tampering, including coercion and allegedly offering ₹20 lakh in exchange for false testimony.
The agency submitted that offences under Sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, along with Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, are scheduled offences under the FEOA. It said sufficient material on record-including chargesheets, prosecution complaints, non-bailable warrants and a red corner notice-established that Nehal Modi falls within the definition of a fugitive economic offender under the Act.
According to the ED, Nehal Modi left India on February 14, 2018, a few months after the alleged fraud surfaced. Subsequently, the Central Bureau of Investigation and the ED commenced investigations into the fraud.
Nehal Modi was arrested in the US in 2020 in a cheating case and later charged, the ED told the court. Following his release after serving a sentence, he was re-arrested by US authorities in July 2025 pursuant to India’s extradition request and is currently lodged in prison in the US pending extradition proceedings.
