New Delhi: Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi, accused in the over Rs 13,000-crore PNB scam, has been tracked down to London’s West End by UK-based The Telegraph. According to a report, Modi is currently putting up in his £8 million apartment here.
In a video posted by the newspaper, Modi can be seen sporting a handle-bar moustache and wearing an Ostrich Hide jacket, estimated to cost £10,000. When scribes from the paper questioned him on various issues, including whether he has urged Britain to grant him asylum, Modi ducked them by saying, “Sorry, no comments”.
Further investigations by the newspaper revealed that the fugitive businessman is living in the luxury central London apartment and has also started a new diamond business in Soho. Modi also reportedly takes a daily walk from his home to the office with his dog.
The business is listed as ‘a wholesale trader in watches and jewellery and a retailer of watches and jewellery in specialised stores’ on Companies House. The new venture, the report says, was incorporated last year and is linked to his flat since he is not listed as a director at Companies House.
The Telegraph has also learnt from a source in the British government that Modi has been assigned a National Insurance number by the Department for Work & Pensions, and he is able to operate online bank accounts in the UK. He is apparently in contact with a wealth management firm in west London, which is famous for offering advice to rich foreigners.
India made a request to extradite the 48-year-old from Britain last August but the matter remains in the hands of the home secretary. In February 2018, Nirav Modi was accused by Punjab National bank of swindling it of Rs 6,498.20 crore through his companies, using fraudulent Letters of Undertakings (LoUs). But by then he had already left the country. His passport was revoked the same month as a result.
In its Red Corner Notice 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. The notice lists a string of charges that includes “criminal conspiracy, breach of trust, cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property, corruption, and money laundering.