PNB scam: ED moves Mumbai court for Nirav Modi's extradition

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday moved a special court in Mumbai seeking diamond jeweller Nirav Modi's extradition. Nirav Modi emerges at the centre of a multi-billion money laundering case involving the Punjab National Bank.

Last week, the Mumbai court had issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Nirav Modi after taking cognizance of the charge sheet.

According to reports, the extradition has been sought by an agency in the UK, Belgium and a few other countries.

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The extradition has been sought on the basis of a charge sheet recently filed by the agency against Nirav Modi and his family under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

As per reports, Nirav has been continuously changing his location across the globe. The request for the extradition has been made to multiple countries as part of a mandate under Criminal Provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, PTI reported.

On June 24, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) issued an arrest warrant against Nirav Modi after he was caught in a diversion of duty-free imported goods, Cut-and-Polished Diamonds (CPDs) and pearls.

The agency has discovered that Modi's three companies — Firestar International, Firestar Diamond International and Radashir Jewellery — indulged in a total diversion of duty-free goods was found to be Rs 1,205 crore.

The Punjab National Bank (PNB), India's second-biggest state-controlled lender, has previously alleged that a handful of staff at a single Mumbai branch issued fake bank guarantees over several years to help two jewellery groups - controlled by Indian diamond magnate Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi - raise billions of dollars in foreign credit and commit India's biggest-ever bank fraud.

(With inputs from PTI)