Court allows CBI to freeze Nirav Modi’s account at Barclays Bank

Absconding diamond merchant Nirav Modi

A SPECIAL court on Monday allowed an application moved by the CBI seeking the attachment of a bank account held by absconding diamond merchant Nirav Modi in the UK.

The CBI had last month filed an application before the court stating that the amount in the account Modi has in Barclays Bank, London, is suspected to be proceeds of crime. The CBI told the court it had learnt that Barclays wanted to close the account held by Modi and so the agency sought to freeze the account before the money is returned to Modi.

The CBI can now send the attachment order to the competent court in the UK through a Letter Rogatory (LR), asking it to direct Barclays to freeze the account. An LR is a formal request to a foreign court seeking judicial assistance in probing an entity in another country. Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate also sought an LR to be sent to Armenia, where Modi has property. The special court designated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act has allowed the application.