Trustee to Sell Off Modi’s US Assets

RAPAPORT… The trustee for Indian fugitive Nirav Modi’s US assets will
auction inventory and intellectual property belonging to his US jewelry
businesses in the coming months.



Over $15 million in diamond jewelry from Firestar Diamond
and Fantasy, as well as $1 million in loose diamonds, will be up for bidding, according to a statement by Donald Palmieri, a gemologist and appraiser to the trustee, Richard Levin. The
sale also includes “dozens” of trademarks, including the widely used “Diamonds
Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” and patent rights for various diamond cuts, Palmieri said Wednesday.


The two companies, along with a third US-based Modi company,
A. Jaffe, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February shortly after Indian
authorities began a fraud probe into the tycoon’s alleged involvement in a
billion-dollar bank fraud. In August, a court-appointed examiner determined
that all three US businesses were directly involved in the fraud.



Liquidators will hold four sales in New York for available
goods. Intellectual property and associated inventory will be auctioned on
September 26, and loose diamonds and diamond jewelry will go under the hammer
on October 3 and 4, and on an as-yet-to-be-determined date.


Goods can be previewed by special appointment prior to
bidding.


Image: Nirav Modi jewelry store. Credit: Sorbis/Shutterstock