A case of an Indian celebrity jeweller named Nirav being accused of banking fraud has taken place before: in a book published in 2017.
The Nirav Modi-Punjab National Bank case has made headlines across the nation thanks to the allegations of massive fraud against the jeweller. Strangely enough, a similar tale has apparently already been told in Ravi Subramaniam’s book ‘In the Name of God’.
The novel is a thriller, in which the main villain accused of bank fraud is a famous jeweller. In a bizarre coincidence, the name of the villain is Nirav Choksi – an amalgamation of the two main accused in the present CBI case: Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi.
Nirav Modi and his uncle, Mehul Choksi, are accused of cheating state-owned Punjab National Bank of Rs 11,400 crore.
While Subramaniam, who is also a banker, wrote the book in 2015, people on Twitter were quick to point out the similarity between the two tales.
In an excerpt, the fictional Nirav is described to be “an extremely sought-after guy in the political circuit for skills which went beyond jewellery design, with a client list that ‘boasted the marquee names on the social circuit – politicians, wealthy Indian businessmen, film stars.”
The fictional Nirav has a distinct style, and an exclusive clientele. But unlike the real Nirav, the fictional businessman functions only by “word-of-mouth”, and is based out of a basement office in Zaveri Bazaar in Mumbai.
Responding to a tweet asking whether the similarities were just a coincidence, Subramaniam wrote they probably were.
