Interpol issues Red Corner Notice against Nirav Modi for money laundering

New Delhi, July 2: The Interpol has issued a red corner notice against PNB Fraud accused Nirav Modi. With the notice being issued, it would restrict the moves of the accused who has been moving from one country to another.

The notice was issued on the request made by the Central Bureau of Investigation. The Interpol accepted the request made by the CBI which had said that he is wanted in several cases and hence needs to be brought down to India.

With the notice being issued, member countries of the Interpol can detain or arrest Nirav Modi.
The CBI has already filed its chargesheet in the case before a Special CBI court in Mumbai. It had called the PNB case as one of the biggest banking scams in the country. The chargesheet also names, Mehul Choksi and Nishal Modi.

It may be recalled that the CBI had issued a diffusion notice through the Interpol against Modi and Choski on February 15. The diffusion notice helps ascertain the location of an absconder. The location of the absconder is shared with the Interpol's member countries.

The notice mentioned the name as Nirav Deepak and the family name as Modi. It says he was born in Mumbai and speaks Hindi, English and Gujarati. The colour of the eyes and hair has been mentioned as black. The charge on which the notice was issued has been mentioned as money laundering.

Where is Nirav Modi?

Indian billionaire Nirav Modi was living in a flat just above his jewellery store in the post Mayfair area of London while he was being hunted in India for an alleged money laundering case linked to over $2 billion, according to a media report.

The 47-year-old diamantaire was able to travel in and out of Britain at least four times since his passport was cancelled by the Indian authorities in February.

During his stay in London, he was reportedly living in the heart of the city above his jewellery boutique called "Nirav Modi" on Old Bond Street, which was reportedly closed last week, The Sunday Times reported.

On February 23, the Indian authorities revoked Modi's passport, contacting Interpol and the UK government soon after. But official records reveal Modi travelled from Heathrow Airport to Hong Kong on March 15, and from New York to Heathrow Airport on March 28.

Three days later, he flew from London to Paris. On June 12, Modi is thought to have boarded the Eurostar train from London to Brussels, the newspaper claims, adding that unconfirmed reports claim Modi has applied for asylum in the UK.

What is a Red Corner Notice?

An Interpol notice is an international alert circulated by Interpol to communicate information about crimes, criminals, and threats from police in a member state (or an authorised international entity) to their counterparts around the world. The information disseminated via notices concerns individuals wanted for serious crimes, missing persons, unidentified bodies, possible threats, prison escapes, and criminals' modus operandi.

There are 8 types of notices, seven of which are colour coded by the function- Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Black, Orange, and Purple. The most well-known notice is the Red Notice which is the "closest instrument to an international arrest warrant in use today. An eighth Special Notice is issued at the request of the United Nations Security Council.

A Red Corner Notice is issued to seek the location and arrest of a person wanted by a judicial jurisdiction or an international tribunal with a view to his/her extradition.