New Delhi, Feb 20: Diamond czar Nirav Modi, the alleged kingpin of the scam which defrauded Punjab National Bank (PNB) of Rs 11,400 crore, was reportedly raided by the Income Tax department in January 2017 -- couple of months after the midnight demonetisation drive was implemented.

Locations linked to Modi were searched by the I-T sleuths as part of the massive exercise launched in the aftermath of demonetisation to crackdown on jewellers who accepted the banned Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes through backdated transactions.

The 500 and 1000-rupee notes had ceased to be legal tender post midnight November 8, 2016.

Meanwhile, the CBI on Tuesday grilled 10 staff members of the PNB, including executive-level directors in connection to the Rs 11,400-crore scandal.

8 executives of Modi's flagship firm - Firestar Diamonds - and 10 employees of his maternal uncle Mehul Choksi's Gitanjali Gems were also interrogated by the central agency.

In a letter to PNB, dated Feb 15/16, Modi expressed his inability to pay the outstanding dues due to the "media frenzy" invited by the bank officials.

"The erroneously cited liability resulted in a media frenzy which led to immediate search and seizure of operations, and which in turn resulted in Firestar International and Firestar Diamond International effectively ceasing to be going-concerns. This thereby jeopardised our ability to discharge the dues of the group to the banks," the diamondarite was quoted as saying.

According to Modi, the amount of liabilities being pegged by PNB officials is "erroneous". The total outstanding amount his firms owe to the bank is not more than Rs 5,000 crore, he claimed.

The PNB, however, in a statement issued on Monday said it is confident of "recovering the entire defrauded amount" from the assets of the celebrity jeweller in India.

In the seizures made by the Enforcement Directorate against Modi-linked firms and residences over the last 7 days, valuables worth Rs 5,469 crore have reportedly been confiscated.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 20, 2018 05:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).