New Delhi: The Indian government has suspended Nirav Modi’s passport, but it has now emerged that the man at at the centre of the Rs 11,400 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam may be holding dual citizenship.
It was known among the close-knit Palanpuri Jain community that Nirav held dual citizenship, the Tribune reported quoting sources.
The passports of Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi were cancelled for four weeks by the Ministry of External Affairs on Friday.
“On the advice of the Enforcement Directorate, the passport issuing authority in the Ministry of External Affairs has suspended the validity of passports of Mr. Nirav Deepak Modi and Mr. Mehul Chinubhai Choksi with immediate effect for a period of four weeks u/s 10(A) of the Passports Act 1967,” said a press release by MEA.
Nirav Modi and his brother Nishal grew up in Belgium, known as the centre for international diamond trade. Intelligence sources said Nishal surrendered his Indian passport and acquired Belgian citizenship. Nirav declared himself an Indian citizen.
Hailing from Gujarat, Nirav Modi founded Firestar Diamond with a glitzy retail business in top cities of the world, including Delhi, Mumbai, New York, London, Hong Kong and Macau.
In 2015, US President Donald Trump inaugurated his first store in New York’s Madison Avenue. Modi’s expanding retail market has made him one of the youngest Indians in the Forbes Billionaires List 2017.
Education was never Modi’s plan as he dropped out of Wharton Business School and moved to India to train in the diamond trade under his uncle.
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