{"id":674,"date":"2018-09-05T15:29:10","date_gmt":"2018-09-05T15:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ielrblog.com\/?post_type=article&p=674"},"modified":"2018-09-05T15:30:01","modified_gmt":"2018-09-05T15:30:01","slug":"india-requests-extradition-of-jeweler-from-u-k-and-uncle-from-antigua","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/article\/india-requests-extradition-of-jeweler-from-u-k-and-uncle-from-antigua\/","title":{"rendered":"India Requests Extradition of Jeweler from U.K. and Uncle from Antigua"},"content":{"rendered":"

On August 3, 2018, the Indian Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh said the Indian government has requested the extradition of Nirav Modi, a jeweler, in connection with a $2 billion scam in the Punjab National Bank (PNB), and that INTERPOL has issued Red Notices on him.[1]<\/a>\u00a0 India has also sent an extradition request to Antigua and Barbuda for Mehul Choksi, Modi\u2019s uncle.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

Since January, when PNB reports surfaced about the alleged fraud by the two jewellery groups by Modi and his uncle, both Modi and Choksi left India and their location was unknown.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

The allegations are that Modi through tellers at a branch of PNB obtained a $1.8 billion loan from branches of other banks by issuing fraudulent letters of credit.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

The PNB fraud is believed the largest in India\u2019s bank history. The incident revealed defects in the management of PNB and caused a loss of confidence in India\u2019s state-operated banking sector, which controls more than two-thirds of the country\u2019s bank assets.[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

Vijay Aggarwal, Modi\u2019s counsel, said his client was innocent and that the fraud allegations arose out of a misunderstanding over a $40 million loan.[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

Since 2002, Modi is the 29th<\/sup> fugitive India has requested the U.K. to extradite.\u00a0 The U.K. government has rejected India\u2019s request nine times in the last sixteen years.[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

Another high profile extradition case is case involves Vijay Mallya, an Indian businessman, airline, and liquor magnate and former parliamentarian. He fled to Britain after Indian prosecutors accused him of defrauding banks of $1.4 billion.\u00a0 Since 2016, many of the state-owned Indian bank lenders have tried to recover their money.\u00a0 Mallya has denied wrongdoing, while India has requested his extradition.[8]<\/a><\/p>\n

With respect to Choksi, India has requested his extradition under the U.N. Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). Choksi is said to have obtained police clearance for Antiguan citizenship in just 15 days.[9]<\/a><\/p>\n

After Choksi obtained Antiguan citizenship, he left India on January 4.\u00a0 He has refused to return to India saying he would be killed by mobs if he were returned. Antigua has said that it granted citizenship to Choksi after Indian police authorities said he had a clean record.[10]<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Choksi extradition request illustrates how governments use the UNCAC to obtain extradition either by itself or sometimes as a supplement to using a bilateral extradition treaty.<\/p>\n

One issue is how Modi has traveled between six countries on his revoked Indian passport since India revoked their passports in February.[11]<\/a><\/p>\n

On August 30, 2018, the Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU) in Antigua rejected a claim made by online publications that a person named Jabir Motiwala, also known as Moti and Jabir Siddiq, was given Antigua and Barbuda citizenship \u201cas part of the country\u2019s citizenship by investment programme.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe claim is utterly false,\u201d the CIU said, adding that it has thoroughly reviewed its files and confirmed that it has not granted citizenship to anyone by the name of Jabir Motiwala or Jabir Siddiq.[12]<\/a><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, President Ram Nath Kovind has approved a law that will deter fugitive economic offenders to evade legal process in India and flee the country.\u00a0 The law defines a fugitive economic offender as any individual against whom an arrest warrant is issued for his involvement in certain economic offences involving amounts of at least Rs. 100 crore or more and has left India so as to avoid criminal prosecution.<\/p>\n

The Fugitive Economic Offenders Act of2018 has received the approval from the president, according to an official order.<\/p>\n

The new law allows designated special court to declare a person as fugitive economic offender and to confiscate his property, including ‘benami’ ones.<\/p>\n

In justification of the financial limit of Rs. 100 crore for invoking the provisions of this new law, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal had recently said in Parliament that the limit was set\u00a0 to “catch the big offenders and not to clog the courts.”[13]<\/a><\/p>\n

The case illustrates the interplay between the ability of people to travel quickly, obtain new residences, and the difficulty that governments may have in obtaining custody of individuals when they are trying to investigate and prosecute crimes.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 India requests U.K. to extradite Nirav Modi<\/em>, The Hindu, Aug. 3, 2018.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Munish Chandra Pandey, India sends extradition requests for Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi<\/em>, India Today, Aug. 5, 2018.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Aditya Kalra, India sends extradition request to UK for fugitive billionaire Nirav Mod<\/em>i, Reuters, Aug. 3, 2018.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Maria Abi-Habib, India Asks to Extradite Elite Jeweler Accused Of $2 Billion in Fraud<\/em>, N.Y. Times, Aug. 21, 2018, at B4, col. 1.<\/a><\/p>\n

[5]\u00a0\u00a0 Aditya Kalra, India sends extradition request to UK for fugitive billionaire Nirav Mod<\/em>i, Reuters, Aug. 3, 2018.<\/a><\/p>\n

[6]\u00a0\u00a0 Abi-Habib, supra.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

[7]\u00a0\u00a0 Neeta Sharma, Nirav Modi Is In UK Files for Extradition<\/em>, NDTV, Aug. 20, 2018<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Abi-Habib, supra<\/em>.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sharma, supra<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n

[10]\u00a0\u00a0 Id.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

[11]\u00a0\u00a0 Id<\/em>.<\/p>\n

[12]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 Antigua-Barbuda refutes claim of economic citizenship granted to wanted criminal, Caribbeannewsnow.com, August 29, 2018.<\/p>\n

[13]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 All India\/PressTrust of India, Economic Offenders Will Not Be Able To Flee Country. Here’s Why<\/em>, NDTV, Aug. 5, 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On August 3, 2018, the Indian Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh said the Indian government has requested the extradition of Nirav Modi, a jeweler, in connection with a $2 billion scam in the Punjab National Bank (PNB), and that INTERPOL has issued Red Notices on him.[1]\u00a0 India has also sent an extradition […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"issuem_issue":[54],"class_list":{"0":"post-674","1":"article","2":"type-article","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"issuem_issue-volume-34-issue-9","7":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nIndia Requests Extradition of Jeweler from U.K. and Uncle from Antigua | IELR Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ielrblog.com\/index.php\/article\/india-requests-extradition-of-jeweler-from-u-k-and-uncle-from-antigua\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"India Requests Extradition of Jeweler from U.K. and Uncle from Antigua | IELR Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On August 3, 2018, the Indian Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. 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