Absconding billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi who is the main accused in $2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case has cost a Canadian national his engagement.
According to a report in the South China Morning Post, the Nirav Modi firm allegedly sold fake diamond rings to a Canadian national that cost him US $200,000
Alfonso, a Canadian national, is the chief executive of a payment processing company who splits his time between Vancouver and California.
A report also said that Alfonso has suffered from depression since he realised the two diamonds were fake. “After that, I just could not function,” he says. “I realised that even if I go after this guy, there are so many creditors before me who are trying to get compensated.”
Alfonso met Modi at the centennial celebrations for the iconic Beverly Hills Hotel in 2012. Months later, they ran into each other at an event in Malibu, then dined at the Mandarin Oriental in New York the following week.
After couple of years, Alfonso who was unaware o Modi's irregularities, mailed him saying he is going to propose to his girlfriend and wanted something special and his budget was US $100,000 mark.
Alfonso said that he was in a shock when he got to know that the stones were not real.
“When she told me, I was like ‘That’s impossible. I spent US$200,000 on those rings. There’s no way they are fake. It’s Nirav we are talking about’,” Alfonso said, livid with disbelief.
“I realised: ‘Oh my God, this guy is wanted for defrauding a bank in India, two of his companies in New York had filed for bankruptcy … That’s when I knew: he got me” reported the daily quoting Alfonso.
Nirav Modi and Choksi are being investigated by the ED and the CBI after it was detected that they allegedly cheated PNB of more than Rs 13,400 crore with the purported involvement of a few of its employees.
Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi have refused to return India to join probe citing business and health reasons among others.
Nirav Modi managed to travel across several countries even after information about his passport being revoked by the Indian government was flashed in the Interpol central database on February 24, the CBI had earlier said.
The ED had conducted 260 searches in this case across the country.
The UK has confirmed the d presence of Nirav Modi in its territory. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has also sent an extradition request to through the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).