Indian jeweller allegedly involved in $2bn fraud flee to London and seek asylum

Nirav Modi, the Indian Jeweller accused of an alleged |$2bn bank fraud in India, has fled to the UK where he is claiming political asylum, according to officials in both countries.  Indian police have been trying to arrest him since February 2018, when news broke of the alleged fraud at Punjab National Bank. So far the police have been unable to find him, but officials in India and the UK say he is in London, where his company has a store and is claiming asylum from political persecution. Mr Modi, over the past few years, has built one of India’s few truly international jewellery brands, worn by celebrities like Kate Winslet and Priyanka Chopra, selling his luxury jewellery  In India, New York, Hong Kong and London. This February he disappeared after allegations broke that he and his uncle, Mehul Choksi, were among the main beneficiaries of an alleged fraud that cost the PNB $1.77bn. The pair is accused of taking out cash advances from Indian lenders on the basis of guarantees from the PNB, which had been issued without approval by junior managers. An Indian court issued warrants for the arrest of both men, while the authorities have shut down Mr Modi’s Indian shops, seized jewellery from his stores, frozen his Indian bank accounts and impounded his luxury cars.

One senior UK Foreign Office official said there was “always a number of complicated cases that add a little tension and spice to our relationship with India, but we are of course governed by human rights legislation”.