Tanvi Sinha
Diamond Merchant Nirav Modi, who was wanted in India under charges of fraud and money laundering is now being extradited to India by a United Kingdom’s Court.
District Judge Samuel Goozee gave the ruling in Westminster Magistrate’s Court in London, declaring satisfaction of a prima facie case against the 49 year old.
The sentence was authorised by UK’s Secretary of State, Priti Patel and said that there were very unlikely bars to the extradition.
Modi now has up to 14 days to appeal the decision to the High Court and seek leave after the Home Secretary’s decision, which if granted would be heard at the Administrative Division of the High Court of London.
His attempts at seeking bail, since his arrest in March 19th, 2019 have been consecutively been turned down on grounds of him being a flight risk.
In India, Modi gained notoriety for being the subject of two criminal proceedings one under Central Bureau Of investigation and the other under the Enforcement Directorate, both of which are related to a large scale fraud of $ 2 billion on Punjab National Bank (PNB).
He also has charges of hiding evidence and of intimidating witnesses under criminal intimidation to cause death.
The issue started in 2018 when PNB registered a case against him late January, before which the man had already left India on January the 1st.
The Indian government has been working with the UK courts and government to provide information regarding Modi’s scams throughout the case.