NAOMI CANTON | TNN | Updated: Jun 14, 2018, 09:32 IST
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!LONDON: Absconding billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi is understood to have jumped on a plane and fled to Brussels on Tuesday or Wednesday, immediately after front-page reports in the media that he was in London seeking political asylum + and that the Indian high commission was awaiting formal confirmation of his presence from the British government.
The diamond merchant, wanted in India’s biggest-ever banking scam, is said to be travelling in and out of the UK freely, possibly on a Singapore passport, not an Indian one.
On Monday, the CBI had requested Interpol for a red corner notice + against Nirav Modi and his brother Nishal, a Belgian national. On Tuesday, a special court in Mumbai had issued a non-bailable warrant against the diamantaire and his family members.
“He travelled to Brussels on Tuesday or Wednesday, straight after the story revealing he was in Mayfair,” a source close to the Indian government said.
“The Indian government has been informed by Interpol that there has been no movement detected on his Indian passport since March 31 so he is definitely not using his Indian passport. If he is on a Singapore passport, the Indian government can’t do anything as the non-bailable warrant is against his Indian passport. They would need to put pressure on the Singapore government. This leads to an issue between the Indian government and Interpol,” the source said.
