Surat: Arrest warrant issued against Nirav Modi in 2014 custom duty evasion case
Customs Department had filed a case in the Surat district court against the absconding diamantaire on March 5 this year.
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Nirav Modi had fled the country earlier this year, days before state-owned Punjab National Bank’s complained against his companies.
The Surat District Court has issued an arrest warrant against absconding diamond merchant Nirav Modi in a 2014 case of custom duty evasion. Chief Judicial Magistrate B H Kapadia issued the warrant as Modi failed to present himself during the court hearings.
Nirav Modi had fled the country earlier this year, days before state-owned Punjab National Bank’s complained against his companies, saying it had been cheated of an estimated Rs 13,500 crore through fraudulent issue of letters of undertaking (LoUs) and foreign letters of credit (FLCs). He is currently in the United Kingdom, seeking asylum.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) had seized six consignments of diamond-studded jewellery from Surat Hira bourse in Mumbai, which the three firms, owned by Modi, had declared to be worth Rs 94.37crore, but on valuation they were found to be of Rs 4.83 crore. The consignment was meant to be sent by the Modi’s firms in the Surat Special Economic Zone (SEZ) to the USA, Canada, Hong Kong and Dubai, on December 5, 2014.
As per the SEZ norms, duty-free import of goods by the units located in the SEZ is permitted only if the goods are to be used as raw material and are exported after value addition or processing. The DRI alleged that Modi imported high-value diamonds through his units in the SEZ and sold them in the domestic market. To evade import duty, he exported low-quality diamonds and pearls and claimed that these were the ones imported earlier and processed.
Customs Department had filed a case in the Surat district court against the absconding diamantaire on March 5 this year.
“The Surat district court has accepted our application of issuing arrest warrant against Nirav Modi. Within 30 days, if the warrant is not received by Modi, then we will start procedure to declare him as a proclaimed offender under the CrPC,” said government pleader Nayan Sukhadwala.
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