London: UK home secretary Sajid Javid has certified India’s extradition request for fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi, wanted in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, officials involved with the proceedings in the UK confirmed on Saturday, even as he was tracked living openly in a swanky 8-million pound apartment in London’s West End and running a new diamond business.
Wanted diamond trader Nirav Modi, one of the prime accused in the PNB scam in India, has been tracked down to an 8-million pound apartment in London’s posh locality West End by The Daily Telegraph.
An interview and a video with the wanted diamantaire published early on Saturday in the British newspaper, revealed that Modi has also started a new diamond business in Soho.
The newspaper headlined its piece ‘Exclusive: India’s most wanted man Nirav Modi — accused of £1.5 billion fraud —living openly in London’.
The video shows Modi sporting a handle-bar moustache and wearing an expensive jacket, repeatedly saying “no comments” to a series of questions put to him by the newspaper’s reporter, including whether he has sought asylum in the UK.
Modi is the subject of an extradition request by India. Modi is the prime accused in the Rs 13,000 crore PNB fraud, along with his uncle Mehul Choksi.
Both Modi and Choksi left India in January last year before the PNB scam came out in the public.
Choksi was granted citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda on January 15, 2018.
“Modi appears to have adopted a surprisingly nonchalant attitude to his fugitive status, walking his small dog each day between his apartment and the diamond company’s office in a townhouse in Soho, just a few hundred yards from his Centre Point home,” The Telegraph said.
