Court Approves Seizure of Billionaire Modi's Assets
June 09, 20
(IDEX Online) - A court in India has approved the confiscation of assets owned by billionaire diamantaire Nirav Modi.
It's the first time new powers to seize have been exercised since the country's Fugitive Economic Offenders Act came in to force two years ago.
Modi, 49, (pictured) is currently in prison in London, fighting extradition to India, where he is accused of defrauding the Punjab National Bank out of $1.85bn.
He allegedly persuaded corrupt bank workers to approve low-rate loans for importing foreign goods, which he used to pay off debts, and was India's most wanted man until he was arrested in March 2019.
Modi, who owned the now defunct Firestar Diamond, was declared a fugitive economic offender.
India's new law allows the court to issue confiscation orders so that banks and other entities can retrieve assets belonging directly or indirectly to him, both in India and abroad.
It's designed to deter economic offenders from seeking refuge beyond the jurisdiction of Indian courts.
Modi faces charges of conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to conceal criminal property, which carry maximum sentences of seven years and life respectively. He denies both charges.