London
Nirav Deepak Modi, the main accused and fugitive diamond businessman in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam, has suffered a major setback from the UK court. The London High Court has rejected his recent bail plea. The Central Investigation Agency CBI gave this information on Thursday. Nirav Modi has been in jail in London for almost six years after losing a legal battle related to his extradition. In India, he is facing the case of money laundering and fraud. The CBI reported that this was his 10th bail plea, which was rejected by the High Court of Justice, Kings Bench Division of London.
According to the CBI, “The new bail plea filed by Nirav Deepak Modi was challenged by the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) counsel with strict arguments, which also supported the CBI team. The team included investigating officers and legal officers, especially for it. It was his 10th bail petition.”
India has got approval for extradition
The High Court of London has already approved the extradition of Nirav Modi’s India, so that he can face Indian law. Nirav Modi is being investigated by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
PNB declared ‘Wanted’ in scam
Nirav Modi has been declared ‘Wanted’ in the Punjab National Bank scam of Rs 6,498.20 crore. He left the country just before the scam surfaced in January 2018. He has been in a UK jail since March 2019.
What are the allegations?
According to the CBI, Nirav Modi and his maternal uncle Mehul Choksi are accused of cheating over Rs 13,000 crore with Punjab National Bank (PNB) through fake letters of undertaking (Lous) and Foreign Letters of Credit (FLCs). Officials of the Brady House branch of PNB in Mumbai issued these Lous and FLCs without any authorized boundary or cash margin to their companies, as well as no entry into the bank’s central system to avoid any investigation.
Foreign branches like SBI (Mauritius), Allahabad Bank (Hong Kong), Axis Bank (Hong Kong), Bank of India (Antwerp), Canara Bank (Mamana) and SBI (Frankfurt) gave loans to Nirav Modi’s companies on the basis of these fake lous. When Nirav Modi’s companies did not repay the loan, PNB had to pay the amount including interest to foreign banks.
Fugitive economic criminal declared
Nirav Modi was declared a fugitive economic offender by a Mumbai court in 2020 and the court ordered to confiscate his property. In September 2024, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) took action in the matter, seizing immovable properties and bank balance of Rs 29.75 crore as “income of crime”. The CBI said that work is going on to implement Nirav Modi’s extradition as soon as possible.
Mehul Choksi arrested in Belgium
Mehul Choksi, another main accused in the scam and maternal uncle of Nirav Modi, was recently arrested in Belgium, where he went for treatment.
