Nirav Modi arrested in UK amid India fraud case allegations

[Kool_SRG]

A billionaire Indian diamond trader, whose jewellery was worn by the likes of model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and actress Priyanka Chopra-Jonas, has been arrested in the UK.

Nirav Modi is wanted for his alleged role in India's largest ever bank fraud, totalling some $2bn (£1.5bn).

He left the country in early 2018, and has not returned to India since.

Mr Modi, 48, was arrested in central London on Tuesday, and is due to appear in court on Wednesday.

Police said the arrest had been made on behalf of Indian authorities, who have asked for his extradition.

• Who is India's scandal-linked billionaire?

Mr Modi's case was thrust back into the limelight after a British newspaper found him living in an £8m ($10.5m) London flat.

The Telegraph questioned him near the Oxford Street apartment in early March 2019. It is thought Mr Modi - who disappeared in February 2018 - had reportedly been in the British capital since at least June.

Within days, officials confirmed that UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid had certified India's extradition request, initially made last August.

He is due to appear before Westminster Magistrates Court, which issued a warrant for Mr Modi's arrest this week.

The arrest comes at an interesting time in India, where people will start voting for their new MPs in the next few weeks. A successful extradition could boost the ruling BJP's standing in the polls.

What are the allegations?

Punjab National Bank (PNB), India's second-largest state-run bank, accuses Mr Modi of being one of the main suspects in a scam which defrauded it of $2bn.

The other main suspect is his uncle Mehul Choksi, who has been in Antigua since the allegations emerged.

The banks said the suspects had used unapproved guarantees, issued by rogue PNB staff, to borrow from other lenders.

Mr Modi has previously denied any wrongdoing.

Who is Nirav Modi?

Mr Modi is one of India's richest men, worth an estimated $1.75bn, according to Forbes.

He was born into a diamond trading dynasty, but only launched his own eponymous brand back in 2010.

The brand grew quickly, and he soon had stores across India, as well as in New York, London and Hong Kong.

His diamond-encrusted designs were worn by stars like Kate Winslet, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Naomi Watts, while the Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra-Jonas appeared in advertisements for the brand.

The shops were raided and his assets frozen after the allegations emerged last year.

[Kool_SRG]

Fugitive Indian jeweller Nirav Modi arrested in London: UK police

Fugitive billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi had been arrested in London on behalf of the Indian authorities, British police said on Wednesday.

India had asked Britain in August to extradite Modi, one of the main suspects charged in the $2bn loan fraud at state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB), India's biggest banking fraud.

Police said Modi, 48, had been arrested in the Holborn area of central London on Tuesday and was due to appear at London's Westminster Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

Interpol had issued a red notice for the arrest of the celebrated diamond jeweller last July.

PNB, India's second-largest state-run bank, in 2018 said that two jewellery groups headed by Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi had defrauded it by raising credit from other Indian banks using illegal guarantees issued by rogue PNB staff.

Modi and Choksi, who have both denied wrongdoing, left India before the details of the fraud became public.

In December, a British court agreed that another high-profile Indian businessman, aviation tycoon Vijay Mallya, could be extradited to his homeland to face fraud charges. Mallya is currently appealing the decision.

[Smallpappu]

Uncle idi anyam 

First nene esa

[Kool_SRG]

Nirav Modi’s asylum bid may delay extradition process

Legal experts believe that if Modi has indeed applied for asylum, extradition proceedings are unlikely to begin until his application is rejected.

Fugitive diamantaire Nirav ModiNirav Modi has applied for asylum in the United Kingdom.(Twittre@Telegraph)

 

 

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi, but his extradition proceedings in the Westminster Magistrates Court may not begin until the Home Office considers and takes a decision on his application for asylum in the UK.

A legal team is reported to be dealing with Modi’s asylum application, though officially there is no confirmation of the application, given the Home Office’s long-standing policy that “We would not routinely confirm nor deny whether an individual asylum claim has been lodged”.

The Home Office has been dealing with a large backlog of asylum applications, with decisions taking years. Legal experts believe that if Modi has indeed applied for asylum, extradition proceedings are unlikely to begin until his application is rejected.

The Home Office no longer considers India as a place from where people flee; it was included in the list of ‘safe’ countries for asylum purposes in 2005.

The four current major grounds for the UK considering asylum applications from Indian citizens are: sexual orientation and gender identity, prison conditions, women fearing gender-based harm/violence, and religious minority groups.

 

Nirav Modi is wanted in India in connection with a Rs 3,000-crore Punjab National Bank fraud case

Sarosh Zaiwalla, leading Indian-origin lawyer based in London, says: “If Nirav Modi has applied for asylum, then the extradition proceedings will not likely begin until the asylum application has been rejected...Granting asylum to a person facing an allegation of fraud in India would be an abuse of process”.

“A person who applies in the UK for asylum is given interim asylum and his status as a legal resident of UK remains until his application is finally determined and he is given asylum or refused”.

“The next step which the Indian government needs to take is to make formal written representation to the relevant asylum department at Home Office setting out the grounds why Nirav Modi should not be granted asylum”, he added.

 

The Vijay Mallya extradition case, which is now in the appeals court, is seen as a ‘template’ that will mostly be replicated in the Nirav Modi extradition case, when it begins in the Westminster Magistrates Court.

Zaiwalla added: “At this stage, the (Nirav Modi) case looks straightforward, and complications can only arise if he had acquired any European or other international citizenship. In such cases, there might be a long battle ahead, subject to various international and extraterritorial legalities involved.”

Modi, whose presence in the UK was confirmed by British authorities in mid-2018, has been spotted walking on London streets recently, responding to queries by reporters with “No comment,” most likely under legal advice.

Modi has reportedly started a new diamond business and has been living in the high-end central London apartment block called ‘Centre Point’.

 

[Kool_SRG]

3 minutes ago, Smallpappu said:

Uncle idi anyam 

First nene esa

 

Poni nuvve esaav le...

[Prabhas_Fan]

antha maa @Kontekurradu daya

[Kontekurradu]

4 minutes ago, Prabhas_Fan said:

antha maa @Kontekurradu daya

JAI NIRAV ANNA 

bharatha maatah muddu bidda 

[Prabhas_Fan]

Just now, Kontekurradu said:

JAI NIRAV ANNA 

bharatha maatah muddu bidda 

thank you uncle

[Kontekurradu]

1 minute ago, Prabhas_Fan said:

thank you uncle

lol pebbi 

[Prabhas_Fan]

4 minutes ago, Kontekurradu said:

lol pebbi 

shut up nasty uncle

[Kool_SRG]

14 minutes ago, Prabhas_Fan said:

antha maa @Kontekurradu daya

Avunu aa roju TV lo kanapadinaaka manode kada ani dabbulu adigaatta konte, Modi Bob told go side and play  ante so ila dided @Kontekurradu

[Prabhas_Fan]

1 minute ago, Kool_SRG said:

Avunu aa roju TV lo kanapadinaaka manode kada ani dabbulu adigaatta konte, Modi Bob told go side and play  ante so ila dided @Kontekurradu

i know uncle will do good ani

[Kontekurradu]

24 minutes ago, Prabhas_Fan said:

i know uncle will do good ani

[Kool_SRG]

Nirav Modi Denied Bail By UK Court, Sent To Prison Till March 29

Nirav Modi and his relative Mehul Choksi skipped the country last year, before the detection of the Rs. 13,000-crore Punjab National Bank scam. Mehul Choksi has been granted citizenship of Antigua.

HIGHLIGHTS

1. Nirav Modi was picked up on Wednesday from a metro station Holborn
2. A week ago, UK issued a warrant against him
3. Nirav Modi fled country last year, weeks before detection of PNB scam

 

Nirav Modi, the celebrity jeweller wanted in a 13,000-crore Punjab National Bank scam, was arrested in London on Tuesday after a yearlong chase that spanned several countries and became symbolic of India's inability to catch high-profile offenders. He was picked up on Wednesday from a metro station Holborn, central London, said officers in the Enforcement Directorate, which is probing the case against him.

Produced within hours at the Metropolitan Magistrate's court, he had offered half-a-million pounds as bail bond, but the court turned it down. He will be in jail till March 29, when the next hearing will take place.

Judge Marie Mallon said she was remanding Nirav Modi to custody "given the high value of amount involved in the allegations, and the access you may have to means of escape.... I have substantial grounds to believe that you may fail to  surrender".

A week ago, UK issued a warrant against him following India's request for his extradition. But a decision on the extradition cannot be taken without a long-drawn legal process, as is happening in the case of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who fled to UK in 2017 as banks tried to recover loans to the tune of Rs. 9000 crore from him.

UK has recently approved Vijay Mallya's extradition, but the matter is now pending with its Home Office.

The External Affairs Ministry said they welcome Nirav Modi's arrest. "Government of India continues to actively follow up this matter with the authorities concerned in the UK, with a view to have Nirav Modi extradited to India at the earliest," the External Affairs Ministry said.

Nirav Modi is believed to be living at a 33-storey Centre Point Apartment complex in West End, the post theatre district in London. Last month, he was sighted in London, walking around in an expensive ostrich-hide jacket. He had brushed off the questions of a reporter who spotted him, with a "no comments". The Telegraph, where the reporter worked, later reported that he has started a diamond business in Soho after acquiring necessary permits.

The 48-year-old billionaire had skipped the country last year, weeks before the detection of the Rs. 13,000-crore Punjab National Bank scam. His relative Mehul Choksi, who was also wanted in the case, has been granted citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda.

The Central Bureau of Investigation is probing the scam, which involved fake guarantees in the name of the state-run lender to secure loans overseas.

The arrest is expected to come as a shot in the arm for the BJP, which is under Congress attack in the matter. The Congress has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of aiding industrialists like Nirav Modi and Mehul  Choksi.

A quick response came from National Conference chief Omar Abdullah.

 

"It's amusing to see the BJP falling over itself to credit the PM with the Nirav Modi arrest while completely ignoring the fact that it was The Telegraph of London & it's correspondent who found Nirav Modi, not the PM & his agencies," Mr Abdullah tweeted.

[xano917]

Paisal back ravali arrest chethey yem vasthadi? Negligence kindha PNB ni 10gali