ZEE Business
ZEE BUSINESS
हिंदी में पढ़ें  हिंदी में पढ़ें
Live TV
Live TV
  • Home
  • Personal Finance
    • PPF
    • Mutual Funds
    • Income tax
    • EPFO
    • Income Tax Calculator
    • Personal Loan Calculator
    • Car Loan Calculator
    • Home Loan Calculator
    • SIP calculator
    • SWP Calculator
    • MF Returns Calculator
    • Lumpsum Calculator
  • India
    • Companies
    • Property
    • Startups
    • Uidai
  • Economy
    • Aviation
  • Tech
    • Mobiles
    • Apps
  • Auto
    • Cars
    • Bikes
  • Markets
    • Commodities
    • Currency
  • Railways
  • World
    • Economy
    • Politics
    • Markets
  • Survey
  • videos
  • photos
  • More ...
    • VIDEOS
    • PHOTOS
BREAKING NEWS
  • Mahindra & Mahindra stock hits 52-week high as brokerages bullish on counter post Scorpio-N launch; check target prices
  • GST Council meet begins today: Know agendas of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's led two-day meeting
  • Security deposit on commercial LPG connection goes up by Rs 1050 for 19-kg cylinder; check new rates
  • Cash-starved Sri Lanka to end fuel duopoly to ease fuel shortages
  • Xiaomi 12S series set to launch with Leica cameras on July 4: Check key details here
Read in App
Business News » India News

UK court denies bail to Nirav Modi for second time

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linkedin
  • whatapp
  • View in App

Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi was denied bail a second time Friday as a UK court ruled that there were "substantial grounds" to believe that he would fail to surrender and also noted that "very unusually in a fraud case" the accused had made death threats to witnesses.

At the end of the second bail application hearing at the Westminster Magistrates' Court in London of the 48-year-old prime accused in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot ruled that the one million pounds his legal team had offered as security for bail as well as the offer to meet stringent electronic tag restrictions on their client's movements failed to convince her to grant bail.

She set Modi's next remand hearing for April 26 via videolink from jail.

"This is a case of substantial fraud, with loss to a bank in India of between USD 1-2 billion. I am not persuaded that the conditional bail sought will meet the concerns of the government of India in this case," she noted.

The court was told that Modi's son, who had been at school in London, had now left for higher studies in the US, which led the judge to conclude that Modi not only had a "lack of community ties" in the UK but also large resources at his disposal to try and flee the country.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), arguing on behalf of the Indian government, had also flagged Modi's attempt to acquire the citizenship of Vanuatu, a remote island country located in the South Pacific Ocean, in late 2017 as a sign of a man trying to evade justice.

The judge agreed that the action was "some way away from a person running a series of businesses" from the UK and that the move to seek citizenship of Vanuatu did indicate that he was trying to "move away from India at an important time".

The judge reiterated her previous strong direction to the Indian authorities to ensure all the documents submitted in the case are "properly paginated with a proper index", before setting May 24 as the deadline for the CPS to submit their documents in the case before the court can decide on a potential hearing date for a full-fledged extradition trial.

Modi, meanwhile, can make a third bail application at the same court but only if the grounds for the bail plea were substantially different. Alternatively, his defence team has a couple of weeks to also move a bail application in the High Court.

During Friday's hearing, the CPS strongly opposed bail on the grounds that Modi posed a significant flight risk and had even issued death threats to witnesses related to his fraud and money laundering case.

Looking more dishevelled and dressed in a similar white shirt as his first bail hearing last week, Modi was brought up to the dock to be produced before the judge and sat behind a glass enclosure as the hearing got underway.

The court was told that Modi was the "principal beneficiary" of the fraudulent issuance of letters of undertaking (LoUs) as part of a conspiracy to defraud PNB and then laundering the proceeds of crime.

CPS barrister Toby Cadman told the judge that there was a "substantial risk" that the prime accused in the PNB fraud to the "amount of between USD 1 and 2 billion", would flee and attempt to interfere with witnesses and evidence.

"Given the nature and seriousness of charges and the resources available to him there will be an overwhelming desire to flee the jurisdiction and interfere with the administration of justice," said Cadman.

Giving details of Modi's attempt to interfere with witnesses, the CPS barrister made specific reference to one such witness, Ashish Lad, who Modi "threatened to kill in a phone call" and also offered him an incentive of Rs 2 million to provide a false statement.

Nilesh Mistry and three other witnesses were similarly targeted by Modi and mobile phones and a server holding "material critical to the fraud" were destroyed at request of Modi, raising fears of further "destroying of evidence" if bail was granted, the court was told.

"Due to the nature of his business he has at his disposal diamonds, gold and pearls," said Cadman.

The court was informed about Modi's attempt to attain citizenship in jurisdictions less likely to be willing to extradite him to India, including Vanuatu at the end of 2017 on the basis of a USD 200,000 investment. However, the Vanuatu citizenship request was declined as a result of the ongoing Indian criminal probe.

Modi's defence team, led by Clare Montgomery who was also the barrister for former Kingfisher Airlines boss Vijay Mallya in his extradition case, opposed the CPS claims of Modi being a flight risk and stressed that in fact Modi sees UK as a "haven where his case will be fairly considered".

"The size and nature of these allegations is not a safe touchstone by which you can judge if he should be granted bail," said Montgomery, who claimed a series of "underlying issues" were behind the PNB withdrawing insecure lending.

At the very start of the hearing, Judge Arbuthnot said she was getting a sense of "deja vu", in reference to her having ordered the extradition of Mallya in December last year.

A three-member joint CBI and Enforcement Directorate team from India was present in court and handed over a new file of evidence which was review by the judge before the hearing.

Modi is believed to have been living in the UK on an Investor Visa, applied for in 2015.

He was denied bail at his first hearing soon after his arrest by Scotland Yard officers from a central London bank branch. He is lodged at HMP Wandsworth prison since then.

 

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)

Get Latest Business News, Stock Market Updates and Videos; Check your tax outgo through Income Tax Calculator and save money through our Personal Finance coverage. Check Business Breaking News Live on Zee Business Twitter and Facebook. Subscribe on YouTube.

TAGS:
Economy
Updated: Fri, Mar 29, 2019
10:00 pm
PTI
RELATED NEWS
GST council clears proposal to remove tax exemptions on some items GST council clears proposal to remove tax exemptions on some items
15 more firms selected under PLI scheme for white goods 15 more firms selected under PLI scheme for white goods
JP Morgan bullish on global markets in H2; rejects possibility of recession, sees inflation receding in second half JP Morgan bullish on global markets in H2; rejects possibility of recession, sees inflation receding in second half
Punjab Budget 2022-23: AAP government presents its first budget;  for FY 2022-23; at Rs 1,55,860 crore FM proposes 14.2% jump in budget expenditure Punjab Budget 2022-23: AAP government presents its first budget; for FY 2022-23; at Rs 1,55,860 crore FM proposes 14.2% jump in budget expenditure
India suffering from low labor participation rate, rupee depreciating in the world, says RBI Deputy Governor Michael Patra India suffering from low labor participation rate, rupee depreciating in the world, says RBI Deputy Governor Michael Patra

LATEST NEWS

Crude oil prices take a breather after three-day rally

Apple iPhone 14 Pro to feature Always-On Display - Check expected launch date, specifications and more

Buy, Sell or Hold: What should investors do with Strides Pharma, MRPL and IEX shares?

Stocks to buy: Looking for cash market stocks? Expert Vikas Sethi suggests two with strong fundamentals

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala Stock: What makes brokerage bullish on Indian Hotels, 21% upside seen - know reasons here

Mahindra Scorpio-N: 1st SUV model in the world to offer this amazing feature - Check what it is

Wealth Guide: National Insurance Awareness Day 2022: Significance, importance of 'Financial Security' - Expert explains

Polycab share price: What makes this cable stock a good bet in its category? Brokerages see up to 45% upside in one year

Dalal Street Corner: Recovery in global market, buying in auto & metal stocks lift benchmarks; what should investors do on Wednesday?

Need for technological improvisation, incentives to promote electric two-wheelers: Niti report

  • India News
  • World News
  • Companies News
  • Market News
  • Personal Finance News
  • Technology News
  • Automobile News
  • Small Business News
  • Income Tax Calculator
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Author
  • Rss Feed
  • Advertise with us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Legal Disclaimer

Latest Trending Updates

  • EPFO
  • Budget 2020
  • Income Tax Return
  • Auto Expo 2020
  • Home Loan
  • Business News

Trending Topics

  • Income Tax
  • income Tax Calculator
  • 7th Pay Commission
  • Reserve Bank of India
  • GST
  • Latest Business News

Follow us on

zeebiz
zeebiz

Partner Sites

  • Zee News
  • Hindi News
  • Marathi News
  • Bengali News
  • Tamil News
  • Malayalam News
  • Gujarati News
  • Telugu News
  • Kannada News
  • DNA
  • WION
© 2022. India Dot Com Private Limited. All Rights Reserved.
LIVE TV