Heena Sharma Blog

  Nirav Modi , once touted as a billionaire designer diamantaire, and now wanted on charges of fraud and money laundering in the $2-billion (Rs 14,000-crore) Punjab National Bank scam case , was on Thursday ordered by a London court to be extradited to India, with the judge ruling that the 49-year-old did have a case to answer before Indian courts. The verdict will, as is the procedure in Britain, be referred to the country’s home secretary, Priti Patel, to authorise deportation at her discretion. But Nirav Modi is permitted to appeal against the ruling to the high court. After nearly two years of proceedings since he was arrested at the British capital’s well-known shopping precinct of Oxford Street, a district judge at the Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Samuel Goozee, ruled: “I am satisfied that there is evidence upon which Mr Modi could be convicted… A prima facie case is established…He has a case to answer for in India.” The Prime Minister’s Office has acknowledged it wa...

After RBI allowed commercial banks to provide their customers a moratorium of three months for repayment of term loans, public sector banks have sprung into action. Public sector banks have informed their customers about deferment of EMIs and interest dues to help soften the blow due the coronavirus crisis . The deferment may come at a price though. The country's largest lender State Bank of India on Wednesday warned borrowers that deferment of equated monthly instalments (EMIs) offered under the RBI's relief package on account of COVID-19 could put an additional cost on them. The lender also advised borrowers to repay their loans if they are in a position to do the same. SBI said on its website that deferring the EMIs for a home loan of Rs 30 lakhs with a remaining maturity of 15 years, the net additional interest would be approximately Rs 2.34 lakhs, which is equal to eight EMIs. In other words, if customers defers three EMIs then they will end up paying 8 EMIs more...

The UK High Court on Wednesday rejected Nirav Modi 's bail application, his fourth attempt as the diamond merchant fights his extradition from Britain to India in the nearly $2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud and money laundering case. In her judgment handed down at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Justice Ingrid Simler concluded there are "substantial grounds" to believe that the 48-year-old fugitive diamantaire would fail to surrender as he does possess the means to "abscond". Reiterating similar concerns as those raised by the lower court in the UK during previous bail hearings, Judge Simler ruled that after considering all the material "carefully", she had found strong evidence to suggest there had been interference with witnesses and destruction of evidence in the case and concluded it can still occur. "The applicant has access to considerable financial resources, supported by an increased [bail bond security] offer ...

A crucial Income Tax investigation report, prepared 8 months before the PNB scam , on fugitive diamond jewellers Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi highlighting bogus purchases, huge over-valuation of stocks, suspicious payments to relatives, dubious loans among other information was not shared with other law enforcement agencies as there was “no protocol”, The Indian Express has reported. The report said the tax department, before February 2018, also did not share its findings through the Regional Economic Intelligence Council (REIC), a mechanism for sharing of information between various law enforcement agencies The tax department report on Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi , which ran into around 10,000 pages, was finalised by the agency on June 8, 2017. However, it was not shared with other agencies like the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) until Februa...