Billionaire businessman Nirav Modi has been declared a fugitive economic offender by a special court in Mumbai. Nirav Modi, currently under arrest in the United Kingdom, is accused of defrauding the Punjab National Bank of more than Rs 10,000 crore by scamming a software used by banks worldwide. He was declared a fugitive economic offender by a Prevention of Money Laundering Act court in Mumbai.
Nirav Modi is the second person to be declared a fugitive economic offender under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, which was enacted last year. The fugitive economic offender tag allows Indian probe agencies to confiscate and attach properties of the accused and is targetted at those who flee India to escape prosecution.
The first person to be declared a fugitive economic offender under the act was Vijay Mallya, who is accused of fraud and defaulting on bank loans to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore. Mallya is also in the United Kingdom and is currently fighting efforts to extradite him back to India.
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Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi are the prime accused in the PNB fraud case, related to alleged fraudulent issuance of Letters of Undertaking that caused a loss of more than Rs 10,000 crore to the public sector bank. Nirav Modi was earlier arrested in London and his extradition process is pending.