UK court extends Nirav Modi remand to March 24 in PNB fraud case

A UK court on Thursday extended till March 24 the remand of fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi, who is fighting his extradition to India in the nearly USD-2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud and money laundering case.

Modi appeared via videolink from Wandsworth Prison in south-west London for the hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on Thursday, which coincidentally also marked his 49th birthday as per the date of birth he confirmed to the court.

"A trial has been set in May. The purpose of today's hearing is to set the next call-over hearing, which will be on March 24," said Judge David Robinson.

Modi's extradition trial is scheduled for five days starting May 11, with the case management hearings in the matter set to begin once all the evidence has been handed in to the court for the trial.

The diamond merchant had made a last-ditch bail application in November last year with an "unprecedented" house arrest guarantee, akin to those imposed on terrorist suspects, as well as citing mental health issues from being behind bars at Wandsworth since his arrest in March 2019.

But the bail plea was turned down by Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot over continued fears of witness intimidation and failure to surrender before the court for his extradition trial this year.

The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which represents the Indian government in the extradition proceedings, said the prospect of an appeal for bail in a higher court has been exhausted as the UK High Court had already turned down Modi's plea earlier last year.

Modi is meanwhile expected to appear for "call-over" hearings every 28 days at Westminster Magistrates' Court until the case management hearings for his extradition trial kick in.

He denies the charges of fraud and money laundering and his defence team, led by barrister Hugo Keith, has claimed that the Indian government has wrongly "blackened" Modi's name as a "world-class schemer".

As part of the change in circumstances required for a fresh bail application, Modi's lawyers had offered to double the bail bond security offered to the court, from the previous GBP 2 million to GBP 4 million.

They had also informed the court of attacks on their client from fellow inmates at one of England's most overcrowded prisons.

Modi has been behind bars at Wandsworth since his arrest on March 19 on an extradition warrant executed by Scotland Yard on charges brought by the Indian government.

During subsequent hearings, the UK court has been told that Modi was 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.

His extradition trial is scheduled between May 11 and 15 this year.