Nirav Modi Joins Mallya In Economic Offenders Club

A Mumbai court has declared Nirav Modi a fugitive economic offender under a recent anti-fraud law after a plea by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

He is the second person, after Vijay Mallya, to be charged under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, which was passed last August. It is aimed at stopping a growing number of high-profile economic offenders fleeing the country to avoid legal action.

Modi is currently lodged in a London prison, from where he is fighting extradition on charges related to the nearly $2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) money-laundering and fraud case.

Modi (48) and his uncle, Mehul Choksi (60), are the prime accused in a scam involving fake guarantees in the name of a state-run lender to secure overseas loans. Both fled India in January last year, before the CBI began investigations in the scam, NDTV reported.