AGENCIES, London: A UK court on Thursday rejected fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi’s bail plea for the fifth time. Modi is fighting extradition to India on charges of USD 2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud and money laundering case.
He was arrested in March last year and is scheduled to face an extradition trial in May this year. He is wanted in fraud cases linked to loans granted by state-run PNB Bank on the strength of illegal guarantees.
Modi had made three attempts for bail, offering 2 million pounds as a security for his release. In his fourth request, he doubled the security to 4 million pound. But his requests have been rejected over fears that he would flee the country.
The 49-year-old has been lodged at Wandsworth Prison in south-west London since his arrest in March last year.
In his fifth bail request decided on Thursday, Nirav Modi offered to obey ‘exceptionally stringent bail conditions’ such as house arrest and 24-hour monitoring. But the high court of England and Wales declined the request.
