[ad_1]
Nirav Modi faces extradition trial in UK court in PNB scam case (Archive)
London:
Threats of being implicated for robbery and even being killed are among the allegations caught on camera in a video recorded by so-called “fictional directors” associated with companies linked to Nirav Modi, which was presented by the CBI to the UK court. to listen to the extradition. case against the diamond merchant accused of fraud and money laundering.
A group of six Indian men can be heard in the video playing at London’s Westminster Magistrates Court during this week’s trial, and each of them alleges that they were forced to leave Dubai and come to Cairo, Egypt, where their passports were. confiscated and allegedly forced to sign dubious documents against his will by Nirav Modi’s brother, Nehal Modi.
“My name is Ashish Kumar Mohanbhai Lad, I am the owner of the same name from Sunshine Gems Limited, Hong Kong and Unity Trading Fze, Dubai,” says one of the men on the June 2018 recording.
“Nirav Modi called me and said he would implicate me for theft. He used the worst expletives … he said he would kill me … he did a lot to us,” he says in Hindi.
Other witnesses from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) include Rushabh Jethwa, who says he is the owner of the same name as Empire Gems FZE in Sharjah; Sonu Mehta, the self-titled director of Auragem Company Limited, Hong Kong; Shreedhar Mayekar, the owner of the same name of Unique Diamond and Jewelery, Azman; and Nileshkumar Balwantrai Mistry, the owner of the same name from Hamilton Precious Traders Limited in Dubai.
Speaking in a mix of Hindi and Gujarati, they are heard saying that they are making the recording because they fear for their safety and only want to return to India, but they are being held against their will.
“We have signed the document because they will not return our passports until we sign it,” says Jethwa.
These witnesses relate to the Execution Directorate’s (ED) discovery that the fictitious directors / owners / managers were appointed to various foreign companies in Hong Kong and Dubai, although the companies remained under the direct control of Nirav Modi.
The charges against the 49-year-old diamond dealer focus on his companies Diamonds R Us, Solar Exports and Stellar Diamonds who fraudulently use a line of credit offered by the National Bank of Punjab (PNB), known as “letters of commitment “(LoUs)
According to the case of the Government of India, various PNB staff members conspired with Nirav Modi to ensure that LoUs were issued to these companies without ensuring that they were subject to the required credit check, without registering the issuance of the LoUs and without charge the required commission to the transactions. This resulted in a fraud of almost USD 2 billion.
Nirav Modi claims to have come to the UK prior to a planned initial public offering (IPO), but an Interpol Red Notice was issued against him before he was tracked down to a luxurious rented apartment at Center Point in central London in early last year.
An Indian government extradition request was certified by the UK Home Office in February last year before his arrest by Scotland Yard on March 19, 2019. The jeweler remains behind bars at Wandsworth Prison in the South West from London since then, unable to obtain bail. despite repeated attempts.
A second extradition request was also certified earlier this year, related to “causing evidence to disappear” and intimidating witnesses or “criminal intimidation to cause death.”
While the hearing to establish a prima facie case against Nirav Modi is ongoing in London this week, the extradition trial will conclude only in September once the second part of the case and defense arguments against prison conditions are heard in Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai.
Presenting the case in court on behalf of the Indian authorities, the UK Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has attempted to establish a pattern of dishonest behavior on the part of Nirav Modi when he acquired the LoUs and also in his dispersal in a complex worldwide empire.
Nirav Modi’s defense team has claimed a shortage of evidence to demonstrate dishonesty and also questioned the admissibility of some of the evidence.
A decision at the extradition hearing to establish whether Nirav Modi has a case to answer in Indian courts and that there are no human rights barriers to his extradition to India is expected only after the second hearing on the case in September.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated channel)
.
[ad_2]
