Nirav Modi, Living In A Rs 15 Lakhs Per Month Rent Apartment Working On A Salary Of Rs 18 Lakhs

For the first time in over a year when fugitive scamster Nirav Modi was caught on camera earlier this month, he was wearing an ostrich hide jacket which was said to cost over Rs 9 lakhs.

British News Paper The Telegraph which tracked Modi down in London also had reported that the main accused in one of India's biggest financial fraud cases was living in a three-bedroom ?8 million apartment occupying half a floor within the luxury skyscraper called Centre Point off Tottenham Court Road, where rent is understood to be ?17,000 a month.

The Telegraph

But on the day he was presented in a London court for his bail hearing Modi's lawyer painted a different picture of the scamster.

According to his lawyer Hepburne Scott, Modi has undertaken work for which he was paid pounds 20,000 (Rs 18.12 lakhs) per month.

This contradicts the findings of the Indian investigators and British media that the disgraced diamond jeweler has resumed business under a new brand name.

According to The Times of India, Modi's new business is called Diamond Holdings and has an office in Soho.

AFP/FILE

Scott also claimed that Modi has been in London since June and was living ¡°openly¡± paid local taxes and was trying to obtain a driving license.

He also stated that Modi who entered the UK on a business visa was in the country because his son was studying in a London school.

Modi who was picked up by the Scotland Yard on Tuesday from a metro station Holborn, central London.

He was produced in the Westminster Magistrates Court on Wednesday and was sent to custody till March 29, when the case comes up for hearing.

BCCL

Modi, who used to run a highly successful diamond empire named after him is accused of defrauding the Punjab National Bank to the tune of Rs 13,000 crore in connivance with some bank staff who issued fake LoUs on behalf of the bank.

Modi, who fled India in February 2018, before the scam surfaced. Based on inputs of his presence in London India had raised an extradition request with the UK.