New Delhi: Smarting from businessmen like jeweller Nirav Modi fleeing the country, the government is planning to put in place measures that will restrict the foreign travel of promoters of companies which default on their bank loans.
The Centre will also increase scrutiny to detect any sudden increase in their overseas transactions so that such defaulters are not able to send their money abroad before leaving the country.
The government is under criticism from the Opposition parties after it emerged that billionaire Nirav Modi ran away from the country after a fraud of Rs 11,400 crores at the state-owned Punjab National Bank.
The Reserve Bank of India and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) will be among the agencies which will be roped in to implement these measures.
The RBI has information on the outward remittances of both individuals and Indian companies.
The RBI’s teams will have to flag unusual transactions and alert the investigative agencies about the activities of these defaulters.
“If it is found that there is a sudden spurt in suspicious overseas transactions of such defaulters, the agencies may impound their passports to prevent their leaving the country,” a source said.
The income-tax department on Wednesday, meanwhile, attached a total of 141 bank accounts and fixed deposits, valued at Rs 145 crores, of the Nirav Modi group as part of its investigation into the alleged Rs 11,400-crore Punjab National Bank fraud case.
The Central Bureau of Investigation also sealed a luxury property of Nirav Modi in the Alibaug area near Mumbai on Wednesday over the case. The 1.5-acre farmhouse was purchased by Mr Modi in 2004 for Rs 32 crore for hosting parties for his clientele, CBI sources said.
