CBI-ED team to leave for UK for Nirav Modi's hearing

A joint team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) will leave for London on Wednesday night to attend the extradition hearing of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi who was arrested in London last week in connection with the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank loan default case, officials said.

The team includes Joint Director-level officers of the two agencies, said an official, adding that they would board a late night flight to London.

According to the official, the team is carrying copies of the chargesheets which the CBI and the ED have filed against Nirav Modi, his wife Ami Modi -- a US national, his uncle Mehul Choksi and others, along with some other necessary documents.

The ED is reportedly carrying the documents related to the Rs 147 crore property of Nirav Modi and his associate companies which the agency had attached on February 26 in connection with the PNB fraudulent case.

The joint team will provide the papers to the local authorities in London and will assist them during the hearing of Nirav Modi's bail plea scheduled on Friday.

The businessman, who had fraudulently obtained over Rs 13,500 crore from the PNB through letters of undertaking (LoU) and foreign letters of credit (FLC), was arrested in London on March 19 and was sent to police custody till March 29 after being denied bail.

Fourteen months after he fled India, the 48-year-old businessman was arrested from Holborn on behalf of the Indian authorities and was produced before a judge at the Westminster Magistrates Court on March 20 which asked the Metropolitan Police to keep him under its custody due to his involvement in fraud of high value funds and access to means of escape.

The Police made the arrest seven days after the Westminster Court issued an arrest warrant against Nirav Modi, who left India days before the scam came to light in January 2018.

--IANS

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