The PMLA court in Mumbai has sought their appearance on September 25 (Nirav Modi) and 26 (Mehul Choksi) respectively under the fugitive economic offender law.
The 48-year-old, who has been lodged at Wandsworth prison in south-west London, appeared via videolink from prison before district judge David Robinson. "I am told that your case is proceeding in accordance with the directions for a final hearing on 11 May," the judge told Modi, as he set the next 28-day remand hearing via videolink for February 27. Modi's extradition trial is scheduled for five days starting May 11, with the case management hearings in the case set to begin once all the evidence has been handed in to the court for the trial.
It has also attached fresh 66 banks accounts, holding deposits of Rs 80.07 crore, of the Gitanjali group, owned by Modi's uncle Mehul Choksi.
Modi, a diamond jeweller whose designs have been worn by Hollywood stars, is now believed to be running a new business, which describes itself on the UK's Companies House register as a wholesale trader in watches and jewellery and a retailer of watches and jewellery in specialised stores.
Modi wanted in India for an alleged Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank fraud arrived in London earlier this year on an Indian passport.
If the absconding jeweller is traced in Britain, the extradition request to the UK government could follow a similar course as the case of embattled liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya
Since most banks have tightened lending to diamond merchants and others are about to do so, many medium and small diamond dealers are approaching large players for credit facility within the industry
Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London concluded that she remains unconvinced that he would not interfere with witnesses or fail to surrender before the court for his trial in May 2020.
The common denominator: They were predominantly Gujarati, mostly male, and either related by blood or very well-known to Nirav.
It said a "sudden rise" in terrorist-financing investigations was seen in 2023 and this was attributed to events arising out of incidents in Manipur that led to such probes in more than 50 cases.
The bench also said there was merit in ED's contention that while the "driving force behind the companies" (Modi) was not submitting to the agency's jurisdiction, his companies cannot be given any discretionary relief.
Modi appeared for his regular 28-day "call-over" appearance from London's Wandsworth prison at Westminster magistrates' court, where judge Gareth Branston reconfirmed that his extradition trial will begin on May 11 next year and will last five days.
Fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi, wanted in India in connection with the estimated $2-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case, was on Tuesday further remanded in custody until January 7 by a UK court hearing his extradition case. The 49-year-old businessman, who has been behind bars at Wandsworth Prison in south-west London since his arrest last year following India's extradition request for him, appeared via videolink for a routine 28-day remand hearing on Tuesday before Westminster Magistrates' Court in London. The final hearings in the extradition case are scheduled over two days, on January 7 and 8 next year, when District Judge Samuel Goozee is scheduled to hear closing arguments from both sides before he hands down his judgment a few weeks later.
The Indian High Commission in London on Thursday welcomed the Westminster Magistrates' Court ruling in the extradition case of diamond merchant Nirav Modi, wanted in India to stand trial on charges of fraud and money laundering related to the Punjab National Bank (PNB) letters of undertaking (LoUs) scam case. A senior diplomat at India House said the judgment, which found a prima facie case against the accused, paves the way for the government of India and the high commission officials to liaise with the UK authorities on the next stages of the procedural matters for his early extradition to India. "The judgment paves the way for the government of India, including the High Commission of India in London, to liaise with the UK authorities on the procedural matters," said the diplomat at the High Commission. "As with previous extradition cases, we will press on with the next steps," he said.
The Rs 11,400 crore PNB fraud saga unfolded after a bribery complaint by the Hong Kong branch of an Indian bank.
The issuance of NBWs by a court also opens door of seeking Red Corner notices against both of the accused from the Interpol.
The central government has already conducted an assessment of security cover given to prisoners in the Arthur Road Jail and its findings conveyed to the UK court.
The legal procedure of extradition of an accused takes its own time and Indian investigators, both from the CBI and ED, are tracking the case.
The special court, however, did not permit the ED to attach the paintings owned by Modi and seized by the Income Tax department as the Bombay high court had earlier directed for the artworks to be auctioned but the money to be deposited and not disbursed.
The agency has so far seized diamonds, gold jewellery and other precious stones worth Rs 5,716 crore in the case and summoned Modi and Choksi, the promoter of Gitanjali Gems, to appear before it on February 23 at its Mubai zonal office.
'If you give your ID and password to somebody else, how can anybody blame the technology for that problem?'
The authorities have received the opinion of structural engineers, and would start removing exotic fittings, valuable fixtures, window grills and other utensils, as per their advice. They also found cushions, glass frames, a plush swimming pool and a spa, furniture made from Burma teak.
Modi's defence team doubled the bail security to 2 million pounds and offered he would stay on 24-hour curfew at his London flat.
Dinesh Vazirani on how he built Saffronart into an institution.
Officials said the Enforcement Directorate along with the Central Bureau of Investigation launched fresh searches on March 22 at the Samudra Mahal luxury residential flats of Modi in Mumbai's Worli area which resulted in the recovery of fresh valuables.
Hollywood turned to jewels by Chokshi.
He is set to be produced from custody before Judge Emma Arbuthnot for the first management hearing in the case, during which a broad timeline is expected for his extradition trial.
The ED on Monday also examined the state-owned bank's executive director K V Brahmaji Rao to understand how the alleged fraud was detected and other banking procedures.
The case goes back to 2014, where the diamond merchant had pleaded guilty, though indirectly, for mis-declaration of exports of diamonds.
The 49-year-old jeweller, fighting extradition to India on charges of fraud and money laundering in the estimated $2-billion Punjab National Bank scam case, has made around six previous attempts at bail at the magistrates' court as well as at the high court level.
Only 40 per cent of the forensic information required was made available by PNB and as such, there is no way that one can put a cap on the total value of LoUs issued. He is the second Indian to be declared a fugitive economic offender, after liquor baron Vijay Mallya.
The continuation appeal hearing in the extradition case of Nirav Modi, the fugitive diamond merchant wanted in India to face charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to an estimated $2-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case, is listed to be heard in the high court in London on June 28. The 51-year-old diamond merchant had lodged an appeal against his extradition order on mental health grounds. "The hearing is listed for the 28th June," confirmed the Royal Courts of Justice administrative office last week.
ED said the United Kingdom's home secretary recently referred India's request for extraditing the tainted businessman to a court for initiating legal proceedings against him.
Nirav Modi, wanted in connection with the estimated $2-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case, was further remanded in custody on Tuesday by a court in London hearing India's extradition request for the diamond merchant. The 49-year-old appeared on Tuesday via videolink from Wandsworth Prison in south-west London, dressed in a maroon sweater and sporting a full beard, for his regular 28-day "call-over hearing" at Westminster Magistrates' Court, where Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot extended his remand for another 28 days until December 29.
Modi, 46, who had figured in the Forbes' list of richest Indians, has been named in the cheating case on a complaint from the PNB, which alleged that the jewellery firm owner, his brother, wife and Choksi entered into a criminal conspiracy with the officials of the bank and cheated it, causing a "wrongful loss".
A UK judge presiding over the extradition proceedings of Nirav Modi on Tuesday ruled that the evidence submitted by the Indian authorities to establish a prima facie case of fraud and money laundering against the fugitive diamantaire is broadly admissible. District Judge Samuel Goozee heard the arguments for and against the admissibility of certain witness statements provided by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London and concluded that he considered himself "bound" by the previous UK court rulings in the extradition case of former Kingfisher Airlines chief Vijay Mallya. He then adjourned the case for a two-day hearing on January 7 and 8 next year, when he will hear the final submissions in the case before he hands down his judgment a few weeks later.
The 49-year-old jeweller, fighting extradition in the estimated $2-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case, will appear via videolink from Wandsworth Prison in south-west London for the latest hearing in the case, during which District Judge Samuel Goozee will hear his defence team's arguments against the admissibility of certain evidence provided by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) in order to establish a prima facie case against the accused.
Modi, 48, is currently living in a three-bedroom flat occupying half of a floor of the landmark Centre Point tower block, where rent is estimated to cost 17,000 (Rs 15 lakh) a month, The Telegraph reported.
The five-day extradition trial of fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi will begin from May 11 in a part-remote setting, a UK court has ordered. Modi is fighting his extradition to India over the nearly USD 2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud and money laundering case.
The I-T department also attached 34 bank accounts and fixed deposits, valued at Rs 1.45 crore, of the Gitanjali group.
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