The fugitive businessman appeared via videolink from prison for a routine remand hearing before Westminster Magistrates' Court in London.
The Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on Thursday denied bail to fugitive Indian diamantaire Nirav Modi and extended his custody till July 25.
The beleaguered businessman appeared via videolink from prison for a routine remand hearing before Westminster Magistrates' Court in London.
The 48-year-old, who has been lodged at Wandsworth prison in south-west London since his arrest in March in connection with the nearly US $2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud and money laundering case, requested the extradition judge for a laptop so that he can review Indian Government's 5000-page case against him in prison.
Hearing his request, the judge said that the Court will do all it can to facilitate his request to access documents relating to his case while he is in prison.
Nirav Modi appeared for the first time since his bail appeal was rejected by the UK High Court earlier this month, his fourth attempt at bail.
In her judgment handed down at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Justice Ingrid Simler concluded there were substantial grounds to believe that Modi would fail to surrender as he does possess the means to abscond.
Reiterating similar concerns as those previously raised by Westminster Magistrates' Court during earlier bail attempts, Judge Simler ruled that after considering all the material carefully, she had found strong evidence to suggest there had been interference with witnesses and destruction of evidence in the case and concluded it can still occur.
"The applicant has access to considerable financial resources, supported by an increased (bail bond security) offer of 2 million pounds, the judge noted.
Modi, who has remained in judicial custody since his arrest in March, had the automatic right to file an application in the higher court and did not require permission to appeal.
Meanwhile, the first case management hearing in his extradition case took place at Westminster Magistrates' Court on May 30, when Judge Emma Arbuthnot directed the Indian government to confirm which prison Modi is to be held in if he were to be extradited to India, setting a 14-day deadline for a confirmation of the prison plans in India.
The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), representing the Indian government, has until July 11 to present an opening position statement laying out the prima facie case against Modi, with the next case management hearing set for July 29 when a timeline for extradition trial is expected to be laid out.
Modi was arrested by uniformed Scotland Yard officers on an extradition warrant on March 19 and has been in prison since. During subsequent hearings, Westminster Magistrates' Court was told that Modi was the "principal beneficiary" of the fraudulent issuance of letters of undertaking (LoUs) as part of a conspiracy to defraud PNB and then laundering the proceeds of crime.
Under UK law, Modi is expected to be produced before the court every four weeks, with another remand hearing expected before the July 29 case management hearing currently fixed in the court's calendar.
The ED along with the CBI are investigating Nirav Modi, his uncle Mehul Choksi and others for alleged money laundering and corruption to defraud the Brady House branch of the PNB in Mumbai to the tune of over Rs 13,000 crore. The alleged scam was unearthed last year and Purvi Modi was also named as an accused by the ED in its chargesheet filed before a Mumbai court.
wiss authorities freeze 4 bank accounts of Nirav Modi, sister
Four Swiss bank accounts of Nirav Modi and his sister have been "frozen" by authorities in Switzerland as part of the criminal money laundering probe being conducted against them in India, official sources said.
Official sources said while the accounts of Nirav Modi, the diamantaire under arrest in this case in London, have deposits of USD 3,74,11,596 while the accounts in the name of his sister Purvi Modi has deposits of GBP 27,38,136. This totals around Rs 283.16 crore, they said. The central probe agency is expected to now make a move for the attachment of these bank accounts under the PMLA.
(With PTI inputs)
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