Diamond magnate Nirav Modi at his office in Mumbai in 2016 before he fled to Britain. Getty
Diamond magnate Nirav Modi at his office in Mumbai in 2016 before he fled to Britain. Getty
Diamond magnate Nirav Modi at his office in Mumbai in 2016 before he fled to Britain. Getty
Diamond magnate Nirav Modi at his office in Mumbai in 2016 before he fled to Britain. Getty

Indian jeweller Nirav Modi wins right to fight extradition on mental health grounds


Paul Peachey
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Fugitive Indian jeweller Nirav Modi will be allowed to appeal on mental health grounds against his extradition from the UK to face charges of embezzling $1.8 billion from a state-owned bank, London’s High Court has ruled.

Mr Modi, 50, known as the jeweller to the stars for his work dressing celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, was told in February he would have to return to stand trial in India, a move approved by British Home Secretary Priti Patel.

He fled his homeland two years earlier because of the police investigation into his dealings. Mr Modi is accused of defrauding the Punjab National Bank, money laundering, witness intimidation and destroying evidence.

Judge Martin Chamberlain on Monday said any appeal would be likely to examine whether the decision to extradite was correct given evidence in court about Mr Modi’s depression, his risk of suicide and the ability of Indian authorities to prevent any attempt.

Mr Chamberlain said in his judgment that “the question for me is simply whether the appellant's case on these grounds is reasonably arguable. In my judgment, it is.”

Mr Modi has been held in London’s Wandsworth prison since his arrest in 2019 after he was tracked to his luxury apartment by newspaper reporters.

His health has been examined in prison. A psychiatrist called by Mr Modi’s legal team said Mr Modi posed "a substantial, albeit not immediate, risk of suicide", while another expert argued that the prison in which he would be held in Mumbai “struggles to provide proper psychological care for inmates”.

Mr Modi is one of a number of high-profile Indian businessmen being sought by Narendra Modi, India’s Prime Minister, in an effort to tackle high-level crime. Three decades of extradition efforts have resulted in only three people returning to face justice.

Both Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya, the brewing and aircraft tycoon, face extradition in a sign of growing political pressure to retrieve the country’s highest-profile fugitives. Mr Mallya was declared bankrupt while fighting his extradition in London.

An attempt in January by the US government to extradite the WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange from the UK to face espionage charges failed, as a judge ruled he was a serious suicide risk if he were transferred. Washington has challenged the decision.

Pakistan squad

Sarfraz (c), Zaman, Imam, Masood, Azam, Malik, Asif, Sohail, Shadab, Nawaz, Ashraf, Hasan, Amir, Junaid, Shinwari and Afridi

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Updated: August 10, 2021, 8:08 AM`