A spokesperson for the Malta Police Force has denied ever “refusing to execute an arrest warrant,” when asked about allegations surfacing that India missed its opportunity to finally detain multimillionaire Lalit Modi while he was in Malta in August 2015.
Blogger and The Malta Independent columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia broke the story that Mr Modi visited Malta in August 2015. She said that “he came through the ministerial lounge and was met by a driver from the Office of the Prime Minister.” She also said that he came over to collect his Maltese passport, which he applied to buy under the controversial ‘citizenship-for-cash’ scheme.
After her posts, the Department for Information issued a statement saying:
“The person being mentioned in the media in relation to the citizenship programme has never applied for the Individual Investors’ Programme. Consequently, it is not true that he holds Maltese citizenship.”
A search on Mr Modi’s son Ruchir Lalit Modi, however, shows a picture which he posted on Instagram of Identity Malta, the agency charged with issuing and regulating visas, residency permits and citizenship. The caption reads ‘diplomatic relations,’ while a comment from an unknown person reads ‘Maltese passport.’
A media frenzy in India arose after e-mails were leaked between Ron Noble, his brother James Noble and Mr Modi. Brian Tonna (above) and Karl Cini of Nexia BT, the very two who assisted Energy and Health Minister Konrad Mizzi and the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Keith Schembri in the Panamagate scandal, were copied into several of the leaked e-mails.
Mr Modi has been very active on social media, such as Instagram and Twitter, causing outrage when he tweeted from the Upper Barrakka Gardens, Mdina and Tigne’ Point. Questions were raised as to what the alleged fraudster was doing in Malta and why no action was taken by local authorities.
Lalit Modi is wanted for money laundering, embezzlement, fraud, taking kickbacks and corruption by abusing his position on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), from which he has been banned for life.
This newsroom sent questions to the police, asking whether an arrest warrant had indeed been received for his arrest, and whether they refused to follow through with the arrest warrant. They responded by saying:
“The Police have been pursuing the matter even through Interpol and should the proper documentation (which is not available today) be forwarded through proper channels, and after the usual verifications are made, we will assist accordingly, should subject [Lalit Modi] be in Malta.”
The implication here is that no “proper documentation,” ie the arrest warrant issued by a Mumbai court, had never been received by the authorities.
Various Indian media reports stated that Maltese authorities refused to execute the arrest warrant, but the response issued by the police says otherwise.
According to The Hindu, India Today and a number of other Indian news outlets, Mr Modi moved his family to London in 2010, shortly before the Directorate General of Economic Enforcement in India launched an investigation into the allegations levelled against him.
The Government of India revoked his passport while he was in London, effectively leaving him without any valid travel documents and unable to leave the country. He then appealed to the British government to provide him with temporary travel documents in order to be with his sick wife in Lisbon, Portugal, while she was being treated for breast cancer. This was granted, allegedly helped along by an Indian Opposition MP and UK Labour MP Keith Vaz in 2014.