Jeweler Nirav Modi arrested over Indian bank scam
March 20, 2019
Indian billionaire jeweler Nirav Modi was denied bail after appearing in a London court on Wednesday.
British police arrested the 48-year-old at the request of Indian authorities, who want to extradite him to face trial over a $1.8-billion (€1.59-billion) loan fraud at state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB).
Modi, one of the main suspects in the case, who is not a relative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, fled India in early 2018 before the scandal came to light. He denies wrongdoing and says the charges against him are politically motivated.
His arrest came as Prakash Javadekar, a minister in the Indian government, said all fugitives would have to come back and "return the looted money to the nation."
Read more: Indian police arrest three in $1.8 billion state-owned Punjab National Bank scam
India's biggest bank fraud case
Indian authorities allege that companies owned by Modi defrauded PNB — India's second-largest public lender — by using forged documents to raise credit to buy and import jewels.
The son of a diamond merchant, Modi built an international empire and opened luxury jewelry stores in several major cities around the world. He also catered to a host of celebrity clients, including actresses Naomi Watts, Kate Winslet and Priyanka Chopra-Jonas.
Read more: Indian tycoon Mallya 'guilty of contempt'
In 2017, before the alleged fraud, Forbes put Modi's estimated wealth at $1.73 billion.
Indian authorities have since seized and destroyed his seafront mansion near Mumbai, worth an estimated $14 million. They have also been given the all-clear from judges to auction 68 paintings and 11 vehicles — including models by Rolls Royce, Porsche, and Mercedes — owned by him.
Interpol issued a warrant last year seeking Modi's arrest worldwide. British police took him into custody on Tuesday after discovering he had been staying in a luxury apartment in London's Centre Point tower.
nm/msh (Reuters, AFP, AP)