Nirav Modi had created a buzz across the diamond industry in the last week. It was only yesterday that the celebrity jeweler spelled his share of explanation.
He stated that PNB closed doors of repayment. He said that PNB was responsible for making him unable to repay the loans. Moreover, he claimed that the dues claimed by the bank were much more than the actual dues.
Not only this, in a letter dated February 15/16, it was mentioned, Modi had pegged the owed money at under Rs. 5,000 crore.
“The erroneously cited liability resulted in a media frenzy which led to immediate search and seizure of operations, and which in turn resulted in Firestar International and Firestar Diamond International effectively ceasing to be going-concerns,” Modi wrote in the letter.
“This thereby jeopardized our ability to discharge the dues of the group to the banks. In the anxiety to recover your dues immediately, despite my offer (on February 13, 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,” he added.
Nirav Modi has owned up and emerged as a solo player involved in the scam. He relieved his brother and American wife Ami Patel from the controversy. He also said that his uncle has been wrongly named in the matter citing that the three are not aware of any dealings with the bank. “My wife is not connected with any business operations at all and she has been wrongly named. My uncle is also wrongly named in this complaint since he has an independent and unconnected business and none of them are aware or concerned with my dealings with your bank,” Nirav Modi said.
Mr. Modi also requested the bank to remit the salaries of 2200 employees of the Nirav Modi group from the balance of the current account of the firms.
