London, Mar 20 (UNI) Westminster Magistrates Court here on Wednesday rejected the bail plea of fugitive Indian diamantaire Nirav Modi, who was arrested by London police.
The next hearing will take place on March 29, the court said.
The diamond merchant was arrested from the Holborn area of central London on Tuesday.The court had issued the arrest warrants on Monday.
Modi, 48, is wanted by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in India in connection with a loan fraud of approximately Rs 13,000 crores from a branch of Punjab National Bank in Mumbai.
Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi are the prime accused in the scam involving fake guarantees in the name of the state-run lender to secure loans overseas. Both of them left India in 2018 before the CBI registered a case against them.
A team of senior officers of both CBI and ED will be going to London next week and submit papers for Nirav’s extradition, senior officials with the Enforcement Directorate in New Delhi said.
Extradition process is lengthy procedure and it will take time and like Vijay Mallya, he also can approach to higher court in London for relief, an official who is privy to these developments in the Government setup said.
UNI XC PS ADG 1858