Nirav Modi (born 1970/71) is an Indian businessman, known for being the founder of 'Nirav Modi Global Diamond Jewellery House', established in 2010. He is currently a wanted fugitive; who absconded in early 2018 when the CBI started investigating a $2 billion fraud case involving him and Indian banks. Interpol, the world's largest police organisation, issued a diffusion notice against Nirav Modi in February 2018. He is being investigated in a $2 billion fraud case at Punjab National Bank (PNB). Nirav Modi was the first Indian jeweler to have been featured on the covers of Christie's and Sotheby's Catalogues. The company has its headquarters in Mumbai, India. In March 2018, Modi applied for bankruptcy protection in Manhattan, New York. In June 2018, Modi was reported to be in the UK and has applied for political asylum at the Britain's Home Office.
Video Nirav Modi
Early life
Nirav Modi was born in Palanpur, Gujarat, but grew up in Antwerp, Belgium His family has been in the diamond business for several generations. His grandfather Keshavlal Modi lived in Chennai and in Singapore, when he was 19, he and his father Deepak Modi moved to Mumbai to work in his uncle's business. His uncle is Mehul Choksi, the head of Gitanjali Group, a retail jewellery company with 4,000 stores in India.
He studied at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. While studying, he met his future wife, the daughter of a diamond businessman.
His younger brother Neeshal is married to the niece of Mukesh and Anil Ambani CBI records show that Neeshal Modi, too, was involved in his brother's approximately $2 billion fraud.
Maps Nirav Modi
History
His interest in art and design was developed at a young age by visiting various museums in Europe. After moving to India in 1989, and training in all aspects of the diamond trading business, in 1999 he founded Firestar (Formerly known as Firestone), a diamond sourcing and trading company. Firestar is the exclusive distributor of Rio Tinto's Argyle pink diamonds in India.
In 2002, his company starting manufacturing jewellery on a contract basis. He acquired Frederick Goldman in 2005, and Sandberg & Sikorski and A.Jaffe in 2007 in USA. In 2010 he started designer diamond stores bearing his name in New Delhi's Defence Colony, followed by one in Mumbai's Kala Ghoda. They were followed by 17 stores across the world in prime locations. He had a vision of having 200 stores by 2025. It had been reported that he was planning to sell some of his business to a well-known foreign brand and was also planning to raise funds through an initial public offering (IPO).
Inspiration
In 2008, a close friend asked Nirav Modi to make a pair of earrings, after which he created the brand. He became well known after he designed his "Golconda Lotus Necklace" with an old, 12-carat, pear-shaped diamond as a centerpiece in 2010. The diamond was earlier sold in the 1960s; it was repolished. It featured a lattie of white and pink diamonds. It was included on the cover of Christie's catalogue in Hong Kong, and was auctioned for US$3.6 million in 2010. Many of his designs feature the use of pink diamonds. He developed new diamond cuts: Ainra cut, Endless Cut and the Moghul Cut.
He is sometimes compared with Laurence Graff who also created a brand name in the high end diamond market.
2018 Investigation (PNB fraud case)
In February 2018, the Indian government's Central Bureau of Investigation launched an investigation into Modi. The CBI is acting on a complaint from the Punjab National Bank, a state banking institution, that alleges Modi and his partners defrauded the bank for INR280 Crore (approximately USD 40 million) by conspiring with bank officials to fraudulently obtain Letters of Undertaking (LoUs are undertaking provided by one bank to another bank, mainly to allow overseas imports)for making payments to overseas suppliers. While INR280 Crore is the fraud that has devolved to date, the potential liability of loss to Punjab National Bank goes up to INR11000 crore. The bank has alleged that Modi and his business partners were involved in fraudulently issuing Letters of Undertakings - or bank guarantees - at the bank's Mid Corporate Branch in Mumbai's Brady House. The enforcement directorate (ED) is looking into the case of fraud that the CBI has registered against Nirav Modi and his associates for cheating over INR280 crore as cited by Punjab National Bank (PNB). A few of the Nirav Modi's stores remained open with business is as usual around the globe including the one at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore., however they have gradually all closed.
Nirav Modi responded to the bank on February 15/16, 2018, stating that "In the anxiety to recover your dues immediately, despite my offer (on February 13, a day before the public announcement, and on 15) your actions have destroyed my brand and the business and have now restricted your ability to recover all the dues leaving a trail of unpaid debts". Branding experts agree that the Nirav Modi brand now would be extremely difficult to salvage.
On 7 March 2018, Bloomberg News reported that Modi's firm Firestar Diamond Inc. had applied for bankruptcy protection at a Manhattan bankruptcy court, in order to protect its assets in the United States and their revolving credit facility with Israel Discount Bank. Nirav Modi bought a Rs 900 crore sea-facing property in Mumbai's coveted Samudra Mahal properties with his wife Ami Modi. His properties in India, including jewellery, paintings, and real estate, worth about Rs 523 crore (about $100 million) have been attached by the Enforcement Directorate. The official website of Nirav Modi became inaccessible after the revelation of the allegations.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached four wind power plants, owned by Nirav Modi, in Rajasthan with a total capacity of 9.6 megawatt (MW) in connection to the Rs 13,000-crore Punjab National Bank fraud. The plants earn up to Rs 5 crore a year due to share purchase agreement with Rajasthan's state electricity board. These wind power plants have been operational since 2014-15. In March 2018, the ED had attached another solar power plant owned by Nirav Modi in Maharashtra. The central probe agency had provisionally attached a 5.24 MW solar power plant spread over 135 acres in Karjat in Ahmednagar district worth Rs 60 crore. The ED filed its first chargesheet in the Rs 13,000-crore PNB fraud case involving diamantaire Nirav Modi and his associates. In May 2018, the CBI and the ED had registered two FIRs each to probe the case. Both Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi are said to have left the country before criminal cases were lodged against them. Nirav Modi is absconding and has not joined the ED probe.
With the collapse of his brand, Nirav Modi's fortune has collapsed. Forbes removed him from their annual billionaires list. He joined the billionaire's list in 2013 with an estimated $1 billion. His peak net worth was reported to be $1.73 billion by Forbes in 2017. On March 9, 2018, Forbes estimated his current wealth to be less than $100 million. As a result of the fiasco, the RBI has stopped issuing LoUs and LoCs for imports, resulting in limiting the financial flexibility of importers. His company, A.JAFFE, acquired through his Synergies Corporation, was auctioned in May 2018 and has been purchased by Parag Diamond.
In April 2018, it was alleged Nirav Modi has found safe haven in Hong Kong. In June 2018, Nirav Modi was reported to have arrived to the UK and he has applied for asylum with Britain's Home Office citing he is a victim of "political persecution" and denies any wrongdoing.
Achievements and Recognition
- In 2010, Nirav Modi was the first Indian jeweler to have been featured on the covers of Christie's and Sotheby's Catalogues.
- The Golconda Lotus Necklace, featuring a rare 12.29 carat Golconda diamond, pink diamonds and Ainra brand cut diamonds, sold at Christie's Hong Kong auction in November 2010.
- The Riviere of Perfection, featuring 36 flawless white diamonds weighing a total of 88.88 carats, was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong auction in 2012.
- In 2013, Mr. Nirav Modi was featured on the Forbes list of Indian billionaires and has been featured on the list ever since. He is ranked 1,234 in Forbes's world's billionaires list for 2017, and 85 in India. His net worth is estimated at $1.73 billion according to the Forbes.
Stores
In 2014, Mr. Nirav Modi opened his first flagship store at Defence Colony, New Delhi, followed by a store at Kala Ghoda, Mumbai in 2015. Nirav modi launched globally with boutiques in New York City and Hong Kong in 2015, followed by two other boutique launches in Hong Kong in 2016. Opened at MGM Macau 2016. All the stores have been since shut down.
Personal life
He is married to Ami Modi, they have three children (two daughters and one son), and live in Mumbai. They met when both students at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, although Modi himself dropped out after a year to return to the diamond business. She is a US citizen by birth. In spite of having been a billionaire family, they have attempted to raise children conservatively, and they only use Gujarati in their home. She ran the "Nirav Modi Scholarship for Excellence," which supported 250 students every year. After leaving India, they had been reported to have been living in a JW Marriott Essex House suite in New York City close to his flagship store on Madison Avenue, which was opened by Donald Trump Jr in 2015.
See also
- Ambaji Shinde, jewelery designer for Harry Winston
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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