Nirav Modi: The billionaire who stole a billion

Raised in Antwerp, Wharton-dropout Nirav Modi is in the news not for his diamonds and jewellery, or even his art collection, but for the dubious honour of defrauding a nationalised bank of an amount that's within whispering distance of his net worth.
Worth $1.73 billion, Modi allegedly lightened Punjab National Bank's (PNB) balance sheet of $1.77 billion through fraudulent transactions, prompting a CBI and ED investigation. His company, Firestar Diamond, rakes in about $2.3 billion dollars a year in revenue.

Diamond trading runs in Modi's family - grandfather Keshavlal Modi first ventured into diamond trading in the 1930s in Surat, moving to Singapore in the 1940s, while father Deepak Modi moved base to Antwerp in the 1960s, where Nirav was raised.
That, however, is not the end of Modi's connect with the diamond industry - Mehul Choksi, CMD, Gitanjali Group, is his maternal uncle, from whom he also learnt the ropes of the trade.
However, all these names pale in comparison when the richest man in India, Mukesh Ambani, is also related to you. Modi's younger brother Neeshal is married to Isheta, Ambani's niece.

Modi's jewellery has adorned the red carpets at such glitzy events like the Oscars and the Golden Globe, where actors Kate Winslet and Dakota Johnson strutted in Nirav Modi creations.

Global celebrities apart, Bollywood too has been eating out of Modi's hand - including the likes of Sonam Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Siddharth Malhotra.
The last two however, who were also brand ambassadors for Modi's company, in an apparent bid to contain the negative publicity fallout from Modi's run-in with the CBI and ED, have distanced themselves from him, with Chopra allegedly suing Modi for non-payment of dues.

Modi's own tastes are nothing to sneer at either - an avid art collector, he's partial to the works of Francis Newton Souza. He's also a timekeeper, collecting watches since the 1980s - including IWC Novecento perpetual calendar, Swatch Tresor Magique, Vacheron Constantin Malte tourbillon and a Rolex Day-Date, all made in platinum.
According to Wealth-X, he also owns a Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2, a watch launched in 2008 and limited to only 75 pieces.

Modi's other interests, apart from diamonds that is, include soccer and music - a salon in his office is filled with music from the Gaelic-speaking areas of Scotland and Ireland. Other possessions include cars, especially a Mercedes and a Bentley.
Interestingly, Modi himself doesn't wear any jewellery apart from a wedding ring and two cuff-links, which were presented to him by his wife and are imprinted with handprints of his two daughters.