Nirav is in UK, CBI moves plea for extradition
Concerned authorities in the United Kingdom have confirmed that fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi, alleged mastermind of India’s biggest banking fraud of over $ 2 billion, is in their territory following which the CBI has moved an extradition request.
Sources in the CBI said, “The UK has confirmed to the CBI that Modi is in their country. We submitted an extradition request to the home ministry immediately after getting the confirmation. The request to bring him back will be sent to the UK through the ministry of external affairs”. The agency has also requested authorities in the UK to detain Mr Modi on the basis of the Red Corner Notice (RC N) issued by the Interpol against him, they added. The RCN was issued on the request of the CBI in June this year, sources said.
The scam pertains to the alleged issuance of fraudulent Letters of Undertakings ( LoUs) of more than $ 2 billion to companies belonging to Mr Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi by the Punjab National Bank’s Brady House branch in Mumbai during 2011- 17.
In RCN issued against a fugitive, the Interpol asks its 192 member countries to arrest or detain the person if spotted in their
countries after which extradition or deportation proceedings can begin.
Mr Modi, along with his wife Ami Modi ( a US citizen), brother Nishal Modi ( Belgian citizen), and Mr Choksi, all accused in the CBI’s FIRs in the case, left the country in the first week of January, weeks before country’s biggest banking scam surfaced. Mr Choksi has been located in Antigua, where he has taken citizenship, sources said. Mr Modi and Mr Choksi have refused to return to India to join the probe, citing business and health reasons.
Mr Modi managed to travel across several countries even after information about his passport being revoked by the Indian government was flashed in the Interpol’s central database on February 24, the CBI had said earlier.
“After the passport was revoked/ cancelled by the external affairs ministry, we had updated this information in the diffusion notice. The information that Nirav Modi’s passport has been revoked was provided in the Interpol central database, available to all the member countries, on February 24,” CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal had said.
After the “diffusion” notice was issued by Interpol on the CBI’s request, the agency followed it up with six countries where Mr Modi was suspected to have fled to, he had said. The agency requested these countries to share information about his whereabouts and movements.
The agency sent these reminders to UK’s Interpol coordination agency on April 25, May 22, May 24 and May 28.