The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Sandeep Bharat Mistry, a close aide of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi , upon his deportation from the UAE in the $2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud probe, officials said on Tuesday.
He arrived at Mumbai airport at 11.55pm on Monday and was taken into custody by the officers of Bank Securities and Fraud Branch (BSFB) of the CBI. The CBI, as part of its action against fugitives, has brought back over 175 criminals from foreign countries in the last few years.
Mistry, according to officials, was wanted by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for his involvement in the fraud, which involved fictitious international trade transactions. The second CBI officer said that Mistry was “geolocated and arrested by the UAE authorities”, after which the deportation process was initiated. He was produced before a court in Mumbai and has been sent to judicial custody, officials said, adding that they will take his police custody soon.
“He also facilitated the preparation of forged import-export documents to portray fictitious trade in diamonds, gold and pearl jewellery. Both, the CBI and ED, have charge sheeted him in the fraud and an Interpol red notice was issued against him in July this year.
Elaborating on his role in PNB fraud, an officer said, “Mistry acted as a key link between various entities, overseeing their day-to-day operations and issuing the instructions through clandestine, self-deleting communication platforms to conceal evidence”. Further, he, along with other accused persons, coerced dummy directors of foreign companies by threatening them with arrest, relocating them to other places, seizing their electronic devices and compelling them to sign documents falsely portraying them as genuine owners of the companies,” said the officer. Another officer said that “Mistry also participated in siphoning off funds from the bank accounts of dummy companies in the UAE. “After issuing Interpol notice, Mistry has been traced and brought back to India within a short span of two months, which reflects swift and effective international coordination among the concerned agencies,” the second officer said.
