Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi is not only being accused of money laundering but also criminal intimidation of more than half a dozen employees of various companies. He allegedly held the employees hostage in Cairo to prevent them from cooperating with the investigating agencies.
The Enforcement Directorate has recorded the statements of some of these employees who have shared their experiences. These statements will form crucial part of the evidentiary material against Modi in the extradition bid India will mount shortly, after the BJP government comes to power for a second term.
Sources said these statements have been made part of the evidence given by the ED to challenge Modi's bail plea in the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, rejected thrice since his arrest. Modi, who is lodged in jail there, is expected to appear before the court on May 30 when the case management hearing is scheduled to begin.
The ED team will be in London for the hearing, and among all the evidence against Modi, a major portion is the statements of the employees in his companies who have levelled criminal charges against him. In one such statement accessed by THE WEEK , one of the directors of Unique Diamond and Jewellers FZC (a company owned by Modi), told the ED that he was working in Dubai for Modi and visited Cairo for a meeting.
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“When the case registered against Nirav Modi, all of us ( directors/owners ) wanted to return to India as soon as possible and wanted to cooperate with the agencies to prove our innocence. In March, Mihir Bhansali (close aide of Nirav Modi ) told us not to panic and said that he is on the job and everything will be under control in a matter of days... he kept us under constant fear that our return to India could result in arrest by the agencies,” he confessed.
“In March 2018, Nehal Modi (brother of Nirav Modi) met us in Dubai and took our mobile phones saying that they are easy to track and they are evidences,” he alleged.
“Mr Modi also told us that it was not safe for us in Dubai and we must shift to Cairo,” he told the ED. In Cairo, they took our passports on the pretext of some residency permission, he alleged.
The director further said in June 2018, he managed to contact the ED through some of his friends and before leaving Cairo they were told to sign an affidavit that these companies belong to the directors and were in no way related to Nirav Modi. The ED has more than half a dozen such statements of directors, sources said, which the agency believes will nail Modi and bolster its efforts to bring him back to India to face the law.
