LONDON: A UK judge who denied bail to Nirav Modi for a 3rd time remained unconvinced that his group ties to Britain were sturdy sufficient not to make him a flight possibility even if the fugitive diamond merchant was prepared to double his security to two million kilos and survive a strict 24-hour curfew at his posh condo in London.
The 48-year-old, sought after in India as the main accused in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud and money laundering case amounting to up to $2 billion, is again in prison after his bail was denied on Wednesday by means of Westminster Magistrates' courtroom Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot.
Nirav Modi, clean-shaven and well dressed for courtroom, sat in the dock and took notes as the prosecution painted a picture of a "diabolical" mastermind in the back of the “luring away” of witnesses, most commonly his former workers, to far off locations and destruction of possible evidence.
There were moments all over the listening to of his 3rd bail utility at courtroom when it looked like Judge Arbuthnot could be persuaded to permit him out of prison on a "24-hour curfew" at his Centrepoint condo in London.
"A combination of interference with witnesses, destruction of servers and mobile phones and the lack of community ties means I still have doubts that he would fail to surrender before the court," she concluded after all.
"There does seem to be a luring away of witnesses (to Egypt) and some pressure that took witnesses away from India," she famous, making explicit reference to a transcript of a dialog which indicated that Nirav Modi could have been using his US-based brother Nehal Modi to do his "dirty work as it were".
In the judge's own words, Nirav Modi's barrister Clare Montgomery made a "compelling" argument against his endured imprisonment whilst he awaits trial in his extradition case and submitted that her client was prepared to abide by means of any stringent conditions so long as he did not need to be lodged in the "unliveable" Wandsworth prison cell.
"His experience in custody has been vivid and damaging," stated Montgomery, as she sought to counter the evidence put ahead by means of the Indian government.
A crew from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as well as the High Commission of India were found in courtroom as Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) barrister Nick Hearn introduced the government of India's arguments against Modi's liberate from prison.
The focal point of the lengthy bail listening to was a suite of witness statements by means of former workers comparable to Ashish Lad and Subhash Parab, which the defence crew sought to establish reflected intimidation from the ED but the prosecution stressed out that the intimidation was masterminded by means of Nirav Modi.
"These are a plausible and coherent account of witnesses being contacted by associates of Mr Modi. There is very credible evidence of interference with witnesses. Nothing in the defence bundle undermines those coherent allegations," stated Hearn, regarding the recent set of paperwork submitted by means of Nirav Modi's defence on April 30 in beef up of the 3rd bail utility this week.
In the top, whilst the judge admitted that the 2 million kilos offered by means of Modi as security for his bail – doubled from the previous listening to because of additional price range from his “employer” – she remained unconvinced that his group ties to the UK were sturdy sufficient not to make him a flight possibility from the country.
Montgomery sought to convince the judge differently, pointing to the truth that his youngsters had their secondary schooling in the UK and were in the USA now simplest because of the ill health of their maternal grandfather.
"His presence here [UK] has got surer and firmer, in fact he clings to it because his alternative would be to go back to India. He has no other feasible place to go," she stated, additionally pointing to the reality two of his elder youngsters are set for summer internships in the UK.
But after all the judge remained unconvinced on all elements in the back of the "large fraud" and famous that the case against Nirav Modi was not "done and dusted", which left the chance of further interference with witness still a possible issue. There was additionally some worry over money being "squirrelled away", giving him access to price range for escape.
A visibly crestfallen Nirav Modi was led clear of the dock as his bail, which had already been rejected twice ahead of by means of the similar courtroom, was grew to become down once more. It remains unclear whether his crew intend to enchantment against the decrease courtroom order in the UK prime courtroom.
But in the meantime, the extradition case will return for its subsequent listening to on May 30, by means of when Montgomery informed the courtroom the Indian executive can be in a position with a "perfectly paginated" set of paperwork in beef up of the case against her client.
The remark was a sarcastic reference to the state of paperwork introduced by means of the Indian government in earlier extradition cases, together with that of liquor mogul Vijay Mallya – additionally heard by means of Judge Arbuthnot.
She has been very firm with the Indian aspect about proper indexing of all paperwork to be submitted to the courtroom with regards to the case.
Nirav Modi was arrested by means of uniformed Scotland Yard officials in central London on March 19 and faces extradition to India as the "principal beneficiary" of the fraudulent issuance of letters of undertaking (LoUs) as part of a conspiracy to defraud PNB and then laundering the proceeds of crime.
The diamond merchant has been in the back of bars at one in every of England's maximum overcrowded prisons – Her Majesty's Prison (HMP) Wandsworth.
The 48-year-old, sought after in India as the main accused in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud and money laundering case amounting to up to $2 billion, is again in prison after his bail was denied on Wednesday by means of Westminster Magistrates' courtroom Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot.
Nirav Modi, clean-shaven and well dressed for courtroom, sat in the dock and took notes as the prosecution painted a picture of a "diabolical" mastermind in the back of the “luring away” of witnesses, most commonly his former workers, to far off locations and destruction of possible evidence.
There were moments all over the listening to of his 3rd bail utility at courtroom when it looked like Judge Arbuthnot could be persuaded to permit him out of prison on a "24-hour curfew" at his Centrepoint condo in London.
"A combination of interference with witnesses, destruction of servers and mobile phones and the lack of community ties means I still have doubts that he would fail to surrender before the court," she concluded after all.
"There does seem to be a luring away of witnesses (to Egypt) and some pressure that took witnesses away from India," she famous, making explicit reference to a transcript of a dialog which indicated that Nirav Modi could have been using his US-based brother Nehal Modi to do his "dirty work as it were".
In the judge's own words, Nirav Modi's barrister Clare Montgomery made a "compelling" argument against his endured imprisonment whilst he awaits trial in his extradition case and submitted that her client was prepared to abide by means of any stringent conditions so long as he did not need to be lodged in the "unliveable" Wandsworth prison cell.
"His experience in custody has been vivid and damaging," stated Montgomery, as she sought to counter the evidence put ahead by means of the Indian government.
A crew from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as well as the High Commission of India were found in courtroom as Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) barrister Nick Hearn introduced the government of India's arguments against Modi's liberate from prison.
The focal point of the lengthy bail listening to was a suite of witness statements by means of former workers comparable to Ashish Lad and Subhash Parab, which the defence crew sought to establish reflected intimidation from the ED but the prosecution stressed out that the intimidation was masterminded by means of Nirav Modi.
"These are a plausible and coherent account of witnesses being contacted by associates of Mr Modi. There is very credible evidence of interference with witnesses. Nothing in the defence bundle undermines those coherent allegations," stated Hearn, regarding the recent set of paperwork submitted by means of Nirav Modi's defence on April 30 in beef up of the 3rd bail utility this week.
In the top, whilst the judge admitted that the 2 million kilos offered by means of Modi as security for his bail – doubled from the previous listening to because of additional price range from his “employer” – she remained unconvinced that his group ties to the UK were sturdy sufficient not to make him a flight possibility from the country.
Montgomery sought to convince the judge differently, pointing to the truth that his youngsters had their secondary schooling in the UK and were in the USA now simplest because of the ill health of their maternal grandfather.
"His presence here [UK] has got surer and firmer, in fact he clings to it because his alternative would be to go back to India. He has no other feasible place to go," she stated, additionally pointing to the reality two of his elder youngsters are set for summer internships in the UK.
But after all the judge remained unconvinced on all elements in the back of the "large fraud" and famous that the case against Nirav Modi was not "done and dusted", which left the chance of further interference with witness still a possible issue. There was additionally some worry over money being "squirrelled away", giving him access to price range for escape.
A visibly crestfallen Nirav Modi was led clear of the dock as his bail, which had already been rejected twice ahead of by means of the similar courtroom, was grew to become down once more. It remains unclear whether his crew intend to enchantment against the decrease courtroom order in the UK prime courtroom.
But in the meantime, the extradition case will return for its subsequent listening to on May 30, by means of when Montgomery informed the courtroom the Indian executive can be in a position with a "perfectly paginated" set of paperwork in beef up of the case against her client.
The remark was a sarcastic reference to the state of paperwork introduced by means of the Indian government in earlier extradition cases, together with that of liquor mogul Vijay Mallya – additionally heard by means of Judge Arbuthnot.
She has been very firm with the Indian aspect about proper indexing of all paperwork to be submitted to the courtroom with regards to the case.
Nirav Modi was arrested by means of uniformed Scotland Yard officials in central London on March 19 and faces extradition to India as the "principal beneficiary" of the fraudulent issuance of letters of undertaking (LoUs) as part of a conspiracy to defraud PNB and then laundering the proceeds of crime.
The diamond merchant has been in the back of bars at one in every of England's maximum overcrowded prisons – Her Majesty's Prison (HMP) Wandsworth.
Nirav Modi fails to convince UK judge that he's not a flight risk
![Nirav Modi fails to convince UK judge that he's not a flight risk]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
May 09, 2019
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