Background and career
Nirav Deepak Modi (born 27 February 1971) is an Indian-born Belgian businessman and fugitive who was charged by Interpol and the Government of India for criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, cheating and dishonesty including delivery of property, corruption, money laundering, fraud, embezzlement and breach of contract in August 2018. Modi is being investigated as a part of the $2 billion fraud case of Punjab National Bank (PNB). In March 2018, Modi applied for bankruptcy protection in Manhattan, New York. In June 2018, Modi was reported to be in the UK applying for political asylum. In June 2019, Swiss authorities froze a total of US$6 million in Modi's Swiss bank accounts along with the assets. In December 2022, he lost his final appeal against extradition request by Indian agencies. All his requests for bail have been rejected, and he is currently lodged in a jail. He is yet to be extradited to India as his request for political asylum is pending with the UK Government.
Nirav Modi was born in Palanpur, Gujarat, and grew up in Antwerp, Belgium. His family has been in the diamond business for several generations. When he was 19, he and his father Deepak Modi moved to Mumbai to work with his maternal uncle, Mehul Choksi. Choksi is the head of Gitanjali Group, a retail jewellery company with 4,000 stores in India. Modi attended the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania but eventually dropped out. While studying, he met his future wife, Ami, the daughter of a diamond businessman Amukuraj Choksey.
After returning to India in 1989 and training in all aspects of the diamond trading business, Modi founded Firestar in 1999 (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 started manufacturing jewellery on a contract basis. He acquired Frederick Goldman in 2005, and Sandberg & Sikorski and A.Jaffe in 2007 in the USA. In 2008, a close friend asked Modi to make a pair of earrings, after which he created the brand. In 2010, he launched a diamond store bearing his name in New Delhi's Defence Colony, followed by one in Mumbai's Kala Ghoda. 17 other store openings followed across the world. Modi launched globally with boutiques in New York City and Hong Kong in 2015, followed by two other boutiques in Hong Kong in 2016 and one in MGM Macau in 2016. 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 had been previously sold in the 1960s; Modi repolished it. The necklace featured a lattice 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. In 2012, another Modi necklace, the Riviere of Perfection, was sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong auction. This necklace featured 36 flawless white diamonds and weighed a total of 88.88 carats.
The Union Bank of India sued Modi in a Hong Kong court. Union Bank claimed in a writ filed at the High Court on 26 September 2018 that Modi guaranteed two loans made to Firestone Trading Private and Firestar Diamond in 2011. The bank demanded that he pay more than $5.49 million plus interest after both firms allegedly defaulted on repayments.
In February 2018, the Indian government's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) launched an investigation of Modi, acting on a complaint from the Punjab National Bank. The complaint alleged that Modi and his partners defrauded the bank of ₹28000 Crore (approximately US$4 billion) by conspiring with bank officials to fraudulently obtain Letters of Undertaking for making payments to overseas suppliers. While ₹28000 Crore is the fraud that has been alleged to date, the potential loss to Punjab National Bank is reported to be up to ₹11000 Crore. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also investigating the fraud case that the CBI registered against him. Modi responded to the bank on 15/16 February 2018, stating that "In the anxiety to recover your dues immediately, despite my offer (on 13 February, 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". Modi estimated his domestic business at around Rs 6,500 Crore, and said "this could have helped reduce/discharge the debt to the banking system," but claimed that this was currently impossible as all his bank accounts had been frozen and assets had been seized.
In April 2018, Indian authorities alleged that Modi had found safe haven in Hong Kong and formally requested his arrest. However, a few months later, he applied for asylum in the UK, claiming he was a victim of "political persecution" and denying any wrongdoing. In March 2019, The Telegraph reported that he was living in an £8 million apartment in London, and Indian authorities requested his extradition from the UK. On 20 March 2019, he was arrested in London after a warrant was issued against him. Modi applied for bail in the UK High Court on 3 May, a day after his remand was extended. All his requests for bail have been rejected as of May 2024. On 25 February 2021, a UK court allowed the Indian government's request to have Modi extradited to India as a key defendant in the PNB fraud case. The UK Home Secretary signed the extradition order on 15 April. Modi then had 14 days to appeal the decision to the UK High Court, which he did on 1 May, claiming he would not get a fair trial in India. During the appeal, Modi remained imprisoned at Wandsworth Prison in south-west London. On 23 June 2021, a UK high court rejected Modi's application to appeal his extradition to India. In December 2022, the Royal Courts of Justice in London refused permission for Nirav Modi to appeal his extradition to the UK Supreme Court and ordered him to pay legal fees of £150,247.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
