4 ‘bad boy’ Indian billionaires who lost it all – from celebrity jeweller Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, to Subrata Roy from the Netflix series, and Satyam Computers’ Ramalinga Raju

Sep 3 , 2021

Sorry not sorry? Four Indian billionaire businessmen, including Subrata Roy, were all arrested for falling foul of the law. Photo: AFP

Netflix series Bad Boy Billionaires: India didn’t go down well with these rogue businessmen, who all landed in jail due to fraud allegations and more

Fugitive diamond jeweller Nirav Modi was worth US$1.8 billion until India accused him of defrauding Punjab National Bank with his uncle, chasing him all the way to London

They were rich beyond their wildest dreams, threw all the best parties, and got around in the flashiest cars, jets and yachts – then it all came to an abrupt end as their dubious financial deals were exposed.

Here’s how four of India’s biggest billionaires lost it all, and ended up trading their mansions for jail cells.

Nirav Modi

In 2017, Forbes listed jeweller to the stars Nirav Modi as being worth US$1.8 billion. The founder of Firestar Diamond, the Gujarat native later launched his own Nirav Modi brand, with stores popping up everywhere from Mumbai and Hong Kong to London and New York.

However, after being accused of pulling off one of India’s biggest ever banking frauds, the disgraced diamond dealer is now worth virtually zero.

Modi has been in HMP Wandsworth, a British prison, since 2019. A huge manhunt was launched when Modi fled India, forcing the country’s authorities to collaborate with Interpol to apprehend the alleged fraudster.

Nirav Modi with model Rosie Huntington Whiteley, who wears diamonds from one of his boutiques. Photo: @modi9125/Instagram

Modi is accused of defrauding the Punjab National Bank (PNB) for millions, destroying evidence and witness tampering. After arriving in London in 2018, Modi initially applied for asylum on the grounds of “political persecution” and was living in a flat whose rent cost US$23,000 per month, according to The Daily Telegraph.

The Indian government wants Modi back in the country, but his lawyers have been fighting his extradition on his behalf. Following his formal arrest in central London in 2020, he won permission to appeal against his extradition based on mental health grounds in August 2021, with his legal team arguing that he is a suicide risk.