Nehal Modi, brother of wanted diamantaire Nirav Modi, has been apprehended in the United States linked to the multi-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam, marking a significant diplomatic success for India after its extradition plea.
The US Department of Justice reports that Nehal Modi, a Belgian citizen, was arrested on July 4.
According to the complaint from US prosecutors, Nehal is facing two charges: money laundering under Section 3 of PMLA and involvement in criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence.
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Nirav Modi, his uncle Mehul Choksi, Nehal, and others are being pursued by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for defrauding PNB of approximately Rs 13,500 crore in loans through deceptive Letters of Undertaking (LoUs).
Although the UK High Court has already authorized Nirav Modi’s extradition, the procedure to return him to India is currently postponed because he has submitted multiple appeals. Nirav, incarcerated in a London prison, was designated an economic fugitive offender in 2019.
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Charges against Nehal
Inquiries by the ED and CBI have uncovered that Nehal was instrumental in laundering crime proceeds for Nirav Modi, who is also undergoing extradition from the UK.
He is said to have helped hide and move substantial sums of illegal money through a network of shell companies and intricate international transactions in order to disguise the criminal profits.