Judgement day for Nirav Modi UK extradition on Feb 25

London: Judgement day for whether wanted diamond merchant Nirav Modi can be extradited to India to face charges of fraud and money laundering in relation to the Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case has been set as February 25. District Judge Samuel Goozee confirmed the timeline on Friday, at the end of closing submissions in the case at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London.

The wanted diamond merchant remains remanded in custody and will appear for a routine 28-day remand hearing via videolink in the interim on February 5. Earlier on Friday, the judge heard that Modi is responsible for overseeing a “ponzi-like scheme” that caused enormous fraud to PNB. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), arguing on behalf of the Indian authorities, focused on laying out the prima facie case of fraud, money laundering and perverting the course of justice against the 49-year-old jeweller, who followed proceedings on the second day of a two-day hearing via videolink from Wandsworth Prison in southwest London.

The court was taken through evidence already presented before Westminster Magistrates' Court in London during the course of several hearings last year in order to wrap up the extradition hearing this week. “The simple and stark fact is that he (Nirav Modi) used his three partnership companies to acquire billions of dollars worth of credit which was entirely unsecured and LoUs [letters of undertaking] were issued for wholly bogus trade,” said CPS barrister Helen Malcolm, appearing via videolink for the part-remote court proceedings due to the coronavirus lockdown.