New Delhi, Aug 30: Fugitive diamond jeweller Nirav Modi, wanted in the Rs 13,500-crore PNB fraud, was directly involved in a number of fraudulent transactions through shell companies owned by him, said a report by the US bankruptcy examiner. US bankruptcy examiner John Carney revealed at least three shell companies that are owned by Nirav Modi and were used for fraudulent transactions.

Nirav Modi-owned Firestar Diamond Inc., A. Jaffe Inc. and Fantasy Inc. were involved in fraud transactions and round-tripping, the report said, according to India Today. In his report, Carney revealed a number of fraudulent transactions done thorugh these shell comapnies. A three carat gem was round-tripped for for times through the shell companies in 2011 within 5 weeks, Carney stated in his report. Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi's Illegal Bungalows to Be Razed, Says Ramdas Kadam.

Firestar Diamond Inc. sold the 3 carat gem to Fancy Creations Company in Hong Kong. Later, it was exported to Solar Export and then again it was sold back to Firestar Diamond. During this, the actual price of the gem was raised to 1.1 US million dollar from 183,000 US dollar (from Rs 1.2 crore to Rs 7.7 crore). Between 2011 and 2017, the round tripping ultimately totaled to 213.8 million US dollars, the US bankruptcy examiner claimed. CBI Asks Interpol Manchester to Detain Nirav Modi in UK.

Nirav Modi is also accused of fraudulently borrowing approximately 4 billion US dollar by manufacturing fraud transactions to import diamonds in few years thorugh his 20 shell companies. Nirav Modi along with his uncle Mehul Choksi of the Gitanjali Group is under probe in the Punjab National Bank fraud case by both the CBI and the ED.

Modi left India along with his family in the first week of January, weeks before the scam was reported to the CBI. His wife Ami, a US citizen, left on January 6 and Choksi on January 4. Choksi was last traced to Antigua, where he has been granted citizenship.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 30, 2018 04:07 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).