London, Mar 29(PTI): The second bail application of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi has been rejected by Westminster Magistrates Court in London on Friday, March 29. The next hearing is scheduled for April 26.

The 48-year-old diamond merchant was denied bail by District Judge Marie Mallon at his first hearing soon after his arrest by Scotland Yard officers from a central London bank branch as he tried to open a new bank account and has been in custody at the HMP Wandsworth prison in south-west London since last Wednesday.

Friday's hearing was presided over by Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot, the same judge who had ordered the extradition of former Kingfisher Airlines boss Vijay Mallya last December.

During the hearing, Toby Chadman, who is representing the Crown prosecution on behalf of the Indian authorities argued that Nirav Modi may destroy evidence and try to bribe and threaten potential witnesses if granted bail.

Cadman said that considering the scale of the fraud and the likely sentence that Nirav Modi would face, the fugitive businessman should not be granted bail. He added that there's a real danger that he would flee justice.

He further argued that telephone records relating to the fraud have been destroyed in India at the behest of Nirav Modi. "Potential witnesses have also been threatened by the diamantaire."

"He has the resources and intent to settle in a jurisdiction that may not be willing to extradite him to India," Cadman said.

"Given the nature of the charges and his willingness to interfere in the process of justice, he should not be granted bail and would flee justice. Despite the fact that the defence will argue that he will not do any such thing because of the ‘intense media scrutiny’ of the case," he argued.

Nirav Modi's attorney Claire Montgomery argued that the businessman has a right to bail, despite the magnitude of the numbers. She argued that Modi is not a "threat" and has no connections with the "underworld."

"The reality is that the nature and size of these allegations is not a safe judgement that he will flee. He has remained in the UK since the fraud allegations were made in India," she stated, alleging that he had come to Britain to establish his business.

"He has been here since January 2018 and has not taken the opportunity to run away...He has made sure he remains here in a highly visible way," she said.

At his first court appearance after his arrest last week, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), arguing on behalf of the Indian authorities, had told the court that Modi is wanted for alleged "high value and sophisticated" fraud and money laundering amounting to USD 2 billion.

The CPS joined in court by a joint Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) team that had arrived from India to assist with the extradition case. Describing him as the "opposite of a flight risk" during the first bail application hearing last week, Modi's defence team had offered 500,000 pounds as security and also submitted to any stringent conditions that may be imposed upon their client.

Modi was arrested by uniformed Scotland Yard officers from a Metro Bank branch in central London as he attempted to open a new bank account on March 19.

During his first court appearance a day after, it emerged that the diamantaire accused of defrauding India's state-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) via fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) had been in possession of multiple passports, since revoked by the Indian authorities.

While one passport is now in possession of the Metropolitan Police, a second expired passport is lying with the UK Home Office and a third with the UK's Driving and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) for a driver's licence.

Besides the passports, Modi also possesses multiple residency cards, some of them expired, but covering countries/regions such as the UAE, Singapore and Hong Kong. His defence team tried to establish his very "visible" and "lawful" residence at his luxury Centre Point apartment in London's West End, paying his local council tax and also using a National Insurance number, allocated to legal UK residents for purposes of work.

The CPS challenged all claims to counter the first bail plea and pointed out that Modi had "deliberately evaded justice" and not returned to India despite a series of criminal summons issued by Indian courts.