Overview
- Sandeep Mistry, who was extradited from the UAE on Tuesday, was arrested by the CBI in Mumbai and produced before a special court that remanded him to judicial custody until October 6, 2026.
- The CBI says Mistry acted as a key operative in the conspiracy that defrauded Punjab National Bank of about Rs 6,498.20 crore and that he served as a director of Fancy Creations Ltd., a Hong Kong company tied to Nirav Modi.
- Investigators allege Mistry and others coerced ‘dummy’ company directors in Dubai, forced some to relocate to Cairo, and destroyed phones to erase evidence while those directors later returned and gave recorded statements to the agency.
- The Enforcement Directorate has opened proceedings to declare Mistry a fugitive economic offender to enable confiscation of assets in India and abroad, and authorities say Interpol notices and UAE cooperation led to his return.
- The arrest is the latest step in investigations that began in 2018 into fraudulent Letters of Undertaking at PNB’s Brady House branch and could speed asset recovery and further prosecutions tied to the wider $2 billion LoU scandal.