United Kingdom’s Home Ministry approved the extradition of Nirav Modi to India in connection with the Rs 13,758-crore fraud, PTI reports. 

“The Secretary of State for the UK’s Home Department, Priti Patel, has approved Mr. Nirav Modi’s extradition,” a CBI official said on Friday. 

Also Read: All about billionaire-turned-fugitive Nirav Modi, who will be extradited to India from UK

“Unless there is an appeal, a requested person must be extradited within 28 days of the Secretary of State’s decision to order extradition (subject to any appeal),” UK government’s official website says.

Nirav Modi is an Indian diamantaire, who fled the country after being charged for fraud worth Rs 13,000 crore against government-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB). Modi and his family, including his uncle Mehul Choksi, who owns Gitanjali Group, fled the country in early 2018, soon before the news of fraudulency came to light. Fugitive Modi is currently facing a trial in a UK court, which will deliver its ruling in the fraudster’s extradition case on Thursday.

In February 2018, an investigation was initiated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after a case was filed by Punjab National Bank alleging that the 49-year-old jeweller and his partners, hand-in-glove with some of the bank officials, defrauded the bank of Rs 28,000 crore, by fraudulently obtaining Letter of Undertaking (LoU) for making payments to overseas suppliers. Though the bank has alleged fraud of Rs 28,000 crore, the investigative agencies have calculated a potential loss of Rs 13,000 crore.   

India seeks Nirav Modi’s extradition: 

The Indian government has been seeking Nirav Modi’s extradition from the UK government, as he has been lodged at Wandsworth Prison in south-west London since his arrest in March 2019. A five-day extradition trial was held at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, starting May 11, 2020, where Modi joined via the court’s common viewing platform (CVP).  The court will deliver the ruling in Nirav Modi’s extradition on Thursday.

Modi’s Swiss bank accounts frozen: 

Further tightening the noose around Modi, the Swiss bank in June 2019, froze a total of 6 million USD present in the diamantaire’s Swiss Bank accounts along with the assets. 

Charges against fugitive Nirav Modi:

Soon after the CBI began its probe, reports of Modi seeking political asylum in Britain surfaced in June 2018. Modi, who is currently under arrest in the UK, is facing several charges such as Criminal Conspiracy, Criminal Breach of Trust, Cheating, and Dishonesty, including the delivery of property, corruption, fraud, money laundering, embezzlement, and breach of contract.