THE BEST & FALL OF NIRAV MODI

> The 47-year-old, who hails from a family of diamond merchants and is known for his love of Bentley cars and expensive Italian suits > Modi was raised in Antwerp, Belgium and as a youngster dreamed of becoming a music conductor > But after dropping out of Wharton business school aged 19, he moved to Mumbai where he would find his calling producing diamond jewellery worth millions of dollars > It was under the tutelage of his entrepreneurial uncle Mehul Choksi, the head of India’s Gitanjali diamonds and now also caught up in the fraud storm, that Modi learned his trade > In 1999, Modi started his own company, Firestar Diamond Ltd., selling loose stones. He employed fewer than a dozen people at the time. By last year, the number was more than 2,000. > Firestar Group, the parent company Modi controls as a majority shareholder, saw its revenue grow over three years from 103 billion rupees (about $1.6 billion) to some 147 billion rupees ($2.3 billion) by the 201617 fiscal year, > In 2010, Modi launched an eponymous jewellery business branded NIRAV MODI with the tagline ‘Haut Diamantaire’. New boutiques in Las Vegas and Hawaii have since been added to a stable that stretches from New York to London to Beijing. > The billionaire Indian jeweller’s extravagant diamonds have graced many Hollywood celebrities including Kate Winslet and Naomi Watts. Watts was among several celebrities to attend the opening of the New York store in 2015. The following year, Winslet wore a Nirav Modi bracelet, ring and earrings at the Oscars > One of Modi’s career highlights was when one of his Golconda diamond necklaces sold for $3 million at Christie’s auction > According to Forbes, Modi is worth $1.73 billion, placing him 85th on India’s rich list > In an interview with Business

World two years ago, he said he hoped to add around 30 Nirav Modi stores to the 17 that already exist by 2020 > Last month, Punjab National Bank (PNB) — India’s secondbiggest state-owned lender — approached the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) alleging that Modi and members of his family defrauded it of Rs2.8 billion. > PNB then said on Wednesday it had detected fraud of almost $1.8 billion at a single branch in Mumbai. The Press Trust of India news agency reported that the bank had made fresh allegations against Modi to the CBI. > On Thursday, Enforcement Directorate officers raided Modi’s Mumbai home and other premises belonging to the jeweller. > Afterwards, PTI, citing officials, reported that Modi had left India in early January, before the bank detected either of the two fraud cases. —