India
Sources said officers of the enforcement directorate got a tip-off from the airport officials as there was a lookout notice against Kulkarni. He apparently arrived in Calcutta from Hong Kong.
Kolkata: Deepak Kulkarni, who is one of the trusted aide of fugitive jeweller Mehul Choksi, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday in connection with its money-laundering probe in the $2-billion PNB fraud case.
Deepak Kulkarni was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and was expected to be produced before a court on Tuesday, the officials said, adding that the ED would seek his transit remand to take him to Mumbai, where the case was registered.
Sources said officers of the enforcement directorate got a tip-off from the airport officials as there was a lookout notice against Kulkarni. He apparently arrived in Calcutta from Hong Kong.
He was a director in a Hong Kong-based "dummy" firm linked to Choksi, an official said, adding that the ED had named him in a charge sheet filed against the fugitive jeweller earlier this year and a Mumbai court had also issued a non-bailable warrant against him.
Mehul Choksi, his nephew and diamond jeweller Nirav Modi and others are being probed under various criminal laws after the fraud came to light this year, following a complaint from the Punjab National Bank (PNB) that they allegedly cheated the nationalised bank to the tune of over Rs. 13,000 crore, with the purported involvement of some of its employees.
Both Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi are absconding since the case was registered by the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
(With agency inputs)
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