Nirav Modi’s fake diamonds break Canadian man’s engagement and heart 

Fugitive jeweller Nirav Modi, who is wanted in a multi-crore banking fraud in India, allegedly sold fake diamond rings to a Canadian national that cost him US $ 200000 (₹14.80 crore), and pushed him in to depression also, claimed Hong Kong based South China Morning Post.

According to a report published in the daily, Canadian citizen Paul Alfonso, who had no clue about Modi’s involvement in ₹14 thousand crore bank fraud, bought two rings from the diamantaire in Hong Kong to propose to his girlfriend. However, his celebration was cut short after knowing that the diamonds were fake.

According to the report, Alfonso first met Nirav Modi in 2012 at the centennial celebrations for the Beverly Hills Hotel in 2012.  Months later, they became friend and met again met in Malibu.

Alfonso, who is the chief executive of a payment processing company, said he felt a “good connection” with Modi, adding that Modi was giving him “pep talk, kind of an older brother figure.”

“In a way, I admired him, and I looked up to him” Alfonso was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

As per the report, after Alfonso deposited the money for both rings to a Hong Kong account, he received the rings from Modi’s assistant Ari in June. However, the invoice and authenticity certificates were not delivered. Alfonso, who was joyous with the “absolutely gorgeous” jewellery, proposed to his girlfriend with both rings. The answer was “yes”, wrote the newspaper.

Both Alfonso and his fiancé wanted the rings to be insured but Nirav had not sent the certificates yet. Feeling “uncomfortable,” he wrote to Modi reminding him of the same. Email exchange ended with Nirav saying that the certificates were on their way. In August, Alfonso was in for a rude shock when his fiancée, who took the rings to an appraiser, found that the stones were fake.

The realisation that he has been duped, pushed Alfonso in to depression when he read the news about Modi’s bankrupt companies and loan defaults in India. “I am usually very careful when I am dealing with a big transaction like this, but again, this is Nirav. I would not imagine him trying to take a few hundred thousand from me when a guy is worth millions of dollars,” said Alfanso while talking to the newspaper.

His fiancee broke up with him soon after. “We broke up literally after one or two days … It was just too much for both of us to handle. It does not make sense to her, because she says: ‘You are a pretty smart guy, how did you let someone scam you out of US$200,000 without making sure the transaction was legitimate?’” Alfonso was quoted as saying by the South China Morning Post.

Alfonso slipped into depression and said, “after that, I could not function”. In an angry email to Modi on August 13, Alfonso wrote, “Do you have any idea what kind of pain you’ve cost me and my now ex-fiancée? … You’ve completely ruined such a wonderful occasion for me and her. You’ve ruined my life.”

The South China Morning Post further reports that the Canadian national has now filed an unlimited civil lawsuit against Modi with the Superior Court of California, suing him for US$4.2 million dollars which amounts to about ₹29.62 crores. That includes US$200,000 for the value of the rings, US$1 million for punitive damages and another US$3 million dollars for emotional distress, pain and suffering. The hearing is scheduled for January next year.