After failed attempt, stage set for 2nd round auction

- Fugitive diamantaire owes Rs12,000cr ($1.5bn) to lenders, several PSBs

- Several rounds of auction lined up to recover dues

Mumbai: After the unsuccessful auction of the gold jewellery and other assets owned by fugitive fraudster Nirav Modi on March 25, a fresh attempt is being made by the liquidator for the same.

Talking to Bizz Buzz, the court-appointed liquidator to handle the bankruptcy proceedings, Santanu T Ray from AAA Insolvency, said: “We are gearing up for the next round of auctions for the diamond and other precious stone studded jewelry pieces of Firestar Diamond International owned by Nirav Modi. The auction is scheduled for May 8.”

A few single pieces also available for auction, which individual buyers can also bid for. Besides, smaller jewellery pieces like rings and earrings in lots, which may be of interest to jewellers, he said.

This is the second auction in the series of auctions for precious inventory that will be made by the liquidator as and when the lots are being released by ED and valuation is getting completed. Liquidator is also in the process of carrying out auctions of real estate assets of Firestar Diamond International and Firestar International belonging to Nirav Modi Group.

Raw materials like gold, platinum, silver, loose diamonds and other precious gems will be auctioned in a separate auction which will be published on April 5 for auction date, May 10.

On March 25, the first lot of movable assets belonging to Nirav Modi’s companies – Firestar Diamond International and Firestar International, had been put up for auction. This formed part of the several rounds of auctioning lined up to raise the Rs12,000-crore ($1.5 billion) the fugitive diamantaire owes his lenders which include several public-sector banks.

Out of 30 parties that evinced interest for their participation in the bidding initially, only 25 were found to be eligible by the liquidator. Among the 25 prospective bidders, only 11 parties had

filed EMDs on basis of data of the assets shared with them.

However, on the eve of the auction, the reserve price of around Rs30 crore was announced by the liquidator, which went much beyond the expectation of the bidders. As a result, none of the 11 eligible bidders came forward to participate in the final bidding.