Govt re-auctions 7 luxury cars of Nirav Modi, sale of 5 fetch Rs 2.9 crore

Government-owned Metal Scrap Trading Corporation (MSTC) raised Rs 2.9 crore by re-auctioning five of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi's seven luxury cars on Tuesday. The MSTC had put on sale the automobiles confiscated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The state-owned e-commerce company had earlier auctioned 13 cars of Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi on April 25 via its website and raised Rs 3.29 crore in bids.

Out of the 13 vehicles up for auction, 12 found buyers at the auction, meanwhile, four of these vehicles which include a Mercedes SUV were again put up for sale on Tuesday as the buyers could not deposit the balance payment within the specified deadline, the ET reported.

The agency had deputed MSTC to hold an online auction for the high-end cars owned by the fugitive businessmen.

The list of cars put up at the earlier (April 25) auction included a Rolls Royce Ghost, a Porsche Panamera, two Mercedes Benz cars, a Toyota Fortuner, an Innova and three Honda cars, among others. The vehicles were reported to be in good condition and were expected to fetch a handsome sum, but, turnout out to be below ED's expectations and went under the hammer again, with a higher base price this time.

"We were expecting higher bids in some cases. A few of the parties didn't make the payment within the deadline," Archana Salaye, assistant director of the ED, told the news daily.

Meanwhile, Modi applied for bail in the UK High Court on May 31, a day after his remand was extended till June 27. Modi, the kingpin of the PNB scam is wanted in India on charges of fraud and money laundering to the tune of $2 billion. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) that represents India in the extradition case said that the hearing of his bail plea will take place at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on June 11.

Modi has been denied bail on all the previous three attempts at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London. The judges ruled that the bail security offered was insufficient and that there was 'substantial risk' that he would fail to surrender.

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