Fugitive diamond jeweller Nirav Modi.The UK Westminster Court denied bail plea to fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi, who is undergoing extradition proceedings in connection with the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank fraud case, for the third time on Friday, PTI reported. He will remain in custody till May 24.
The 48-year-old, who is in Wandsworth prison in south-west London ever since he was arrested last month, appeared before Westminster Magistrates’ Court Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot via videolink from the prison.
The brief hearing concluded with the judge further remanding Modi till May 24. She scheduled a full hearing on May 30.
On March 29, Modi’s bail was rejected by Chief Magistrate Arbuthnot on the grounds that there was a “substantial risk he would fail to surrender”.
The diamantaire accused of defrauding PNB via fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) is believed to have been living in the UK on an Investor Visa, applied for in 2015 – at a time when the so-called “golden visa” route was relatively easier for super-rich individuals to acquire residency rights in the UK based on a minimum of 2-million pound investment.
On March 19, Modi was arrested by the Scotland Yard officers. During his first court appearance a day later, it emerged that he had been in possession of multiple passports since revoked by the Indian authorities.
