From rare paintings to luxury cars, Nirav Modi's assets to go under hammer

Rare paintings, exquisite wrist watches and luxury cars belonging to fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi will be auctioned from Thursday.

The sale of 112 assets is being done by Saffronart on behalf of the Enforcement Directorate through a live auction, which will be followed by an online one for 72 items.

Modi, who has allegedly defrauded state-run Punjab National Bank of over Rs 14,000 crore, is on the run and was last spotted in the UK.

Saffronart, which had conducted an auction of some artworks belonging to Modi in March last year to fetch over Rs 55 crore, said there will be a live auction of 112 items on Thursday, which will be followed by an online auction next week.

A 1935 painting by Amrita Sher-Gil titled "Boys with Lemons" is expected to be the biggest draw at the live auction on Thursday, and could fetch anywhere between Rs 12-18 crore, while a 1972 piece from modernist M F Hussain is also expected to draw a similar price, Saffronart said.

Other art pieces to be sold include works by V S Gaitonde, Manjit Bawa and Raja Ravi Varma, it said.

Rare timepieces, including a Jaeger-LeCoultre Men's 'Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2' Limited Edition Wristwatch that can fetch up to Rs 70 lakh, a Patek Phillipe 'Nautilus' Gold and Diamond Wristwatch that is also estimated to fetch up to Rs 70 lakh, will also go under the hammer.

Among the luxury cars, a Rolls Royce Ghost, which will also be up for grabs for bidders on Thursday, is expected to fetch up to Rs 95 lakh, it said, adding the car is ideal for long distance travel.

The sale will also feature branded handbags, including from the iconic Birkin and Kelly lines by French luxury goods manufacturer Herms, which are expected to fetch up to Rs 6 lakh a piece.

The online auction will be conducted on March 3 and 4, and will have 72 items including a Porsche Panamera S car which could be sold for up to Rs 15 lakh, the auction house said in the statement.

Fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi set for fresh bail plea in UK court

Fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi will file a third bail plea Wednesday before a UK court, which has already rejected his bail twice before as he fights his extradition case in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud and money laundering case amounting to up to $2 billion.

Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot is scheduled to hear the third bail application at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London.

It remains unconfirmed whether Modi will appear in person or via videolink from Wandsworth prison in south-west London, where the 48-year-old has been lodged since his arrest in March.

His barrister, Clare Montgomery, will seek to convince the judge of a change of circumstances in order to seek bail for a third time at the same court.

"He has had his two bail applications in the lower court. He can only make a third application if he can persuade the court that there has been a change in circumstances. He is arguing a change of circumstances based on new evidence," said a spokesperson for the UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which represents the Indian government in the extradition proceedings.

"He will have to seek to persuade the Judge that this constitutes a change of circumstances and that he should be permitted to make another bail application," the spokesperson said.

Modi's legal team, led by solicitor Anand Doobay, have previously offered 1 million pounds as security alongside an offer to meet stringent electronic tag restrictions on their client's movements, "akin to house arrest". It remains to be seen how they plan to bolster the application for a third attempt before the same court.

"This is a case of substantial fraud, with loss to a bank in India of between $1-2 billion. I am not persuaded that the conditional bail sought will meet the concerns of the government of India in this case," Judge Arbuthnot had said, when rejecting the previous bail application.

She also noted that "very unusually in a fraud case", Modi had made death threats to witnesses and also attempted to destroy evidence in the case. The diamond dealer's "lack of community ties" in the UK and an attempt to acquire the citizenship of Vanuatu - a remote island in the South Pacific Ocean - in late 2017 went against him, as the judge said it seemed like he was trying to "move away from India at an important time".

The CPS team, represented by barrister Nick Hearn from Furnival Chambers, is expected to oppose the latest bail application on similar grounds.

At the last hearing in the extradition case on April 26, when Modi had appeared before Judge Arbuthnot via videolink from prison, no application had been made for bail and he was further remanded in judicial custody until May 24.

The court was also told that May 30 had been tentatively ear-marked as the first case management hearing ahead of an extradition trial, but it now remains to be seen how the case will progress after the latest bail application.

Earlier, the CPS had confirmed that Modi intends to appeal against his bail rejection in the UK's High Court. However, the bail hearing this week will take place at the same lower court on the basis of "change of circumstances".

Modi was arrested by uniformed Scotland Yard officers in central London on March 19. During subsequent hearings, Westminster Magistrates' Court was told that Modi was the "principal beneficiary" of the fraudulent issuance of letters of undertaking (LoUs) as part of a conspiracy to defraud PNB and then laundering the proceeds of crime.

Meanwhile, the diamond merchant remains behind bars at one of England's most overcrowded prisons – Her Majesty's Prison (HMP) Wandsworth, where he can hold sessions with his legal team to deliberate on the course of his extradition proceedings. His lawyers had urged the judge to allow them more time with their client than the few hours a week permitted by the jail.

Will Nirav Modi, Mallya share same jail cell in Mumbai if extradited?

There was some light-hearted moments at the UK court Friday when Judge Emma Arbuthnot hearing the second bail plea of Nirav Modi asked the prosecution whether the fugitive diamantaire would be lodged in the same jail cell along with Vijay Mallya if he is also extradited to India.

The 48-year-old diamond merchant is wanted in India for alleged "high value and sophisticated" fraud and money laundering amounting to $ 2 billion.

At the very start of the hearing, Westminster Magistrates Court Chief Magistrate Arbuthnot said she was getting a sense of "deja vu", in reference to her having ordered the extradition of Mallya in December last year.

"Do we know which part of India he [Modi] is being sought in," the judge asked, to try and establish which jail Modi is likely to be held in.

She was told by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), arguing on behalf of the Indian government, that it would be an extradition to Mumbai and that he may in fact be held in the same Arthur Road Jail as that prepared for liquor tycoon Mallya, to which the judge said in a light-hearted vein that it could even be the same cell as we know "there is space" from the previous video submitted during the Mallya extradition trial.

India has informed the UK court that Mallya will be lodged in one of the high-security barracks located in a two-storey building inside the prison complex.

Authorities at the Arthur Road prison in Mumbai have kept a high security cell ready for Mallya if he is extradited from UK in connection with loan default cases against him in India.

Mallya, wanted in India on charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to around Rs 9,000 crore, has filed his application in the UK High Court, seeking permission to appeal against an extradition order signed by the British Home Secretary.

If extradited, 62-year-old Mallya will be lodged in the prison complex, which also housed 26/11 Mumbai attack terrorist Mohammad Ajmal Kasab.

An official from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs earlier said Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail was one of the best in the country.

His comments came after Judge Arbuthnot asked Indian authorities to submit a video of the Arthur Road Jail cell where they plan to keep Mallya following his extradition.

The official said adequate medical facilities were available to treat prisoners in Arthur Road Jail, where Mallya would get full security cover as an undertrial prisoner and it was highly secured in accordance with international standards.

The central government has already conducted an assessment of security cover given to prisoners in the Arthur Road Jail and its findings conveyed to the UK court.

In another throwback to the Mallya trial, Nirav Modi's defence team, led by barrister Clare Montgomery raised the issue of the state of the paperwork submitted by the Indian authorities, claiming it "made her cry" at one stage.

The judge concurred with her and was very firm about proper indexing of all documents to be submitted to the court in relation to the case.