The High Court of Justice in London on Thursday (May 15, 2025) rejected a fresh bail petition filed by diamantaire Nirav Modi, who’s held in a jail there and wished in India within the ₹13,000 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case orchestrated together with his businessman uncle Mehul Choksi.
Mr. Modi approached the court looking for his launch on bail pending the choice on his extradition request, officers mentioned.
“Fresh bail petition filed by Nirav Deepak Modi was rejected Thursday by the High Court of Justice, King’s Bench Division, London. The bail arguments were strongly opposed by the Crown Prosecution Service advocate, who was ably assisted by a strong CBI team consisting of investigating and law officers who travelled to London for this purpose,” the CBI mentioned in a press release right here.
Mr. Modi, 55, is lodged in a U.Ok. jail since March 19, 2019. He is accused of siphoning off ₹6,498.20 crore of the overall rip-off quantity.
His extradition has already been permitted by the High Court of U.Ok. in favour of the Government of India, the company mentioned.
“This was his 10th bail petition since his detention in the U.K., which was successfully defended by the CBI through the Crown Prosecution Service, London,” the company mentioned.
Mr. Modi’s uncle Mehul Choksi, a co-accused within the PNB fraud case, was arrested by authorities in Belgium the place he had gone for therapy, it mentioned.
The duo has been accused of siphoning off over ₹13,000 crore from the PNB utilizing fraudulent letters of endeavor and international letters of credit score.
Officials at PNB’s Brady House department in Mumbai issued letters of endeavor (LoUs) and international letters of credit score (FLCs) to their companies with none sanctioned restrict or money margin and with out making entries within the financial institution’s central system to evade any scrutiny in case of a default.
LoUs are a assure given by a financial institution on behalf of its consumer to a international financial institution. If the consumer doesn’t repay to the international financial institution, the legal responsibility falls on the guarantor financial institution.
Based on the LoUs issued by the PNB, cash was lent by the SBI, Mauritius; Allahabad Bank, Hong Kong; Axis Bank, Hong Kong; Bank of India, Antwerp; Canara Bank, Mamana; and SBI, Frankfurt.
Since the accused corporations didn’t repay the quantity availed in opposition to the mentioned fraudulent LoUs and FLCs, the general public sector financial institution made the funds, together with the overdue curiosity, to the abroad banks, which superior purchaser’s credit score and discounted the payments in opposition to the fraudulent LoUs and FLCs issued by PNB, the CBI alleged.
Published – May 16, 2025 02:41 am IST
