Fugitive Modi arrested in UK

Nirav Modi, the Indian celebrity jeweller, the central figure in an alleged $2bn fraud that rocked state-owned Punjab National Bank, has been held in London as New Delhi presses for his extradition.

Modi, whose boutiques were found in some of the world’s most prestigious shopping districts, was denied bail by London’s Westminster Magistrate’s court despite offer of security of £500, 000.

The fugitive whose elaborate diamond pieces once adorned by top Hollywood and Bollywood stars was taken into custody in central London on Tuesday after attempting to open a bank account. A clerk alerted the police and “indicated they thought they had a wanted man” the court heard.

During the hearing Mr Modi spoke only to confirm his identity and to say that he did not consent to his extradition to India. He is accused of being a primary beneficiary of an elaborate bank scam that left a £1.52bn loss at PNB India’s second largest state-owned lender.

Modi and his family left India in January 2018, as PNB reported the alleged fraud a few weeks later, and officials in the UK confirmed that Mr Modi had fled to Britain where he was trying to claim political asylum, when Indian authorities formally sought his extradition in August 2018.

In court,  Mr Modi’s lawyer, George Hepburne Scott said the jeweller “ very strongly” contested the allegations of wrongdoing and said the charges were politically motivated. Mr Modi intended to fight the extradition, which he argued breached his client’s human rights.

Mr Modi was spotted walking around Oxford Street in London, near the luxury apartment in Bond Street, where he was reportedly living.

According to PNB and Indian criminal investigators, Mr Modi had improperly received nearly £.152bn worth of cash advances  for trade finance from other Indian banks’ overseas branches. They were said to have acted on requests from PNB’s Brady House  branch in Mumbai. But the trade finance guarantees sent to counterpart banks by Swift, the global financial messaging system, were never entered into PNB’s core banking system which meant that the bank’s management was unaware of the obligations mounting in its name.