Nirav Modi: no chance of returning to India soon for investigation

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Mar 12, 2018

On March 10, Nirav Modi’s lawyer said that he will not be returning to India in the near future to answer the Central Bureau of Investigation’s summon due to security concerns and work abroad.

On March 8, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sent yet another summons to Nirav Modi requesting him to come to India to take part in the investigation in which he is accused of defrauding the Punjab National Bank (PNB) of 12,300 crore rupees (approximately 1.9 billion US dollars). Modi’s passport has been revoked by the Indian authorities as he and Choksi failed to respond to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA's) show cause notice. The CBI has stated that it is still unsure of Modi’s exact location at present.

"My client Nirav Modi has sent a response to the CBI. He will take time to come back as there are security concerns and my client is also managing his business abroad," Modi’s lawyer Vijay Aggarwal said to Asian News International. Aggarwal added, "I do not consider this as a scam."

The fraud is believed to have commenced as far back as 2011 and the story broke in February. Nirav Modi’s uncle, and the owner of the Gitanjali Group of jewellery companies, Mehul Choksi, has also stated that he has work abroad and so will not be returning to India to help with the investigation.