London: In a major blow to fugitive diamond trader Nirav Modi, Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday rejected his new bail plea.
Nirav is fighting extradition to India on charges of nearly USD 2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud and money laundering case.
Dressed in a blue sweater and freshly shaved, the 48-year-old was produced before Westminster Magistrates' Court in London to make another attempt at being let out on bail until his trial in May next year.
Read also: Nirav Modi's immediate extradition not possible
He has been in custody at Wandsworth prison in south-west London, one of England's most overcrowded prisons, since his arrest in March.
Nirav was looking distinctly healthier than his previous appearance before the same court earlier this year.
Nirav has reportedly claimed anxiety and depression in his latest application, with earlier bail applications at the court being rejected by chief magistrate Emma Arbuthnot, and then also on appeal at the High Court in London, as he was deemed a flight risk.
His legal team has previously described their client's experience in prison as damaging and offered stringent electronic tag and other conditions akin to house arrest at his posh Centrepoint apartment in the West End of London in an attempt to persuade the judge to grant bail.
His experience in custody has been vivid and damaging...he is willing to abide by any bail conditions imposed by the court because Wandsworth is unliveable and makes the effective preparation of his case virtually impossible, his barrister Clare Montgomery had told Judge Arbuthnot earlier in the year.
They had also doubled the initial bail bond offer of 1 million pounds to 2 million pounds in an attempt to sway the court. However, Arbuthnot had concluded that Nirav was wanted in connection with a large fraud and the doubling of security was not sufficient to cover a combination of concerns that he would fail to surrender.
In June, Nirav's legal team took his appeal against that ruling to the Royal Courts of Justice in London, where a judge was told about the diamond merchant's troubled state of mind in "confidential" documents.
Read also: UK High Court denies bail to Nirav Modi for fourth time
