(IDEX Online) - Fugitive diamond billionaire Nirav Modi is to appear at a five-day hearing in London next month, when a judge will decide whether he should be extradited to India for trial.
The 49-year-old jeweler is alleged to have defrauded the Punjab National Bank out of out of $1.85bn by persuading corrupt workers to approve low-rate loans for importing foreign goods, which he used to pay off debts.
He was India's most wanted man until he was arrested in London in March 2019, and has been on remand in the capital's Wandsworth Prison ever since.
He appeared via videolink at Westminster Magistrates' Court and was told that as part of India's second extradition request he would now face two further charges, of "causing the disappearance of evidence" and of intimidating witnesses or criminal intimidation to cause death.
Modi already faces charges in India of conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to conceal criminal property, which carry maximum sentences of seven years and life respectively. He denies both charges.
Modi established his own trading company, the now defunct Firestar Diamond in 1999. He branched out into jewelry design and launched the Nirav Modi brand in 2010 and amassed a fortune estimated by Forbes at $1.4bn, making him one of India's richest men.
The extradition trial will begin on 7 September and is expected to last five days.