Diamond merchant Nirav Modi’s extradition judgement will be delivered at the Westminster Magistrates Court on 25 February 2021. District Judge Samuel Gooze announced that after a two-day hearing on 7 and 8 January this year. Prior to that, Mr Modi will appear for his remand hearing on 5 February from Wandsworth prison via videolink.
The final submission hearing last week heard how Mr Modi was responsible for overseeing a ‘ponzi-like scheme’ that led to an enormous fraud costing Punjab National Bank (PNB) around £1.2 million (approx. US $2mn).
Mr Modi, 49, who appeared by a videolink from Wandworth prison wore a casual dark suit and displayed his long salt and pepper unkempt beard, often closing his eyes like he was meditating.
CPS Barrister Helen Malcolm QC arguing on behalf of India via videolink said, “The simple and stark fact is that Nirav Modi used his three partnership companies to acquire billions of dollars-worth of credit which was entirely unsecured, and letters of undertaking (LoUs) were issued for wholly bogus trade…While the defence claims this is a mere commercial dispute, there is a plethora of evidence to point to a ‘ponzi-like’ scheme where new LoUs were used to repay old ones.”
Ms Malcolm’s arguments repeated the claims by a former employee who by previous video evidence stated to have received death threats from Mr Modi and the dummy directors who were allegedly forced to flee India to avoid CBI and ED investigations.
On the first day of this two-day hearing, Mr Modi’s defence team led by Claire Montgomery QC alleged Mr Modi would not receive a fair trial in India. She quoted reported statements by Indian ministers and two former Indian judges Abhay Thipsay and Markandey Katju. She also said Arthur Road jail in Mumbai did not have the required arrangements or plans to deal with Mr Modi’s delicate mental health issues, including risk of suicide, and urged the Westminster Magistrates Court to dismiss India’s extradition request.
She also said that Mr Modi did not have enough funds or assistance in India to help him with private medical care for his mental health, if the government failed to provide it and criticised Barack 12 at Arthur Road Jail as a steel caged ‘sweat shop’, dark and infested with rats, without any provision for daily fresh air.
Mental health and risk of suicide were the main grounds on which the court last week had also blocked WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s extradition to the US.
In India, in a major development, Nirav Modi’s sister and her husband have decided to turn approver in PNB scam case.
According to the news reports in India, his sister Belgian national Purvi and her husband Maiank Mehta have filed an application before the Special PMLA Court in Mumbai asking the court to seek pardon under Section 306 and 307 of the CrPC.
The two have now reportedly decided to turn approver and is expected to assist in the confiscation of Mr Modi's two flats in New York, one in London and another in Mumbai, bank balances in two Swiss Bank accounts and another bank account in Mumbai.
