65 Facts About Lalit Modi

Lalit Modi was born on 29 November 1963 and is an Indian businessman and former cricket administrator and a financial fraud fugitive.

Lalit Modi was the founder, first chairman and League Commissioner of the Indian Premier League, and ran the tournament for three years until 2010.

Lalit Modi served as the Chairman of the Champions League from 2008 till 2010 and was Vice President of the BCCI from 2005 till 2010.

Lalit Modi has served as the President of the Rajasthan Cricket Association from 2005 till 2009 and then again from 2014 till 2015, and as the vice president of the Punjab Cricket Association from 2004 till 2012.

In 2010, Lalit Modi alleged that the Indian National Congress minister Shashi Tharoor held indirect free equity in the Kochi Tuskers Kerala IPL franchise, ultimately leading to Tharoor's resignation.

The Kochi franchise alleged that Lalit Modi was harassing them, because he wanted another group to win the franchise bid.

Shortly after IPL 2010 ended, Lalit Modi was suspended from BCCI after being accused of misconduct, indiscipline and financial irregularities.

Lalit Modi denied any wrongdoing, and blamed accusations on political rivalries.

Lalit Modi has an elder sister, Charu Modi Bhartia, and a younger brother, Samir Modi.

Between 1983 and 1986, Lalit Modi studied electrical engineering and business administration in the United States.

Lalit Modi attended Pace University in New York for two years, and then Duke University in North Carolina for one year.

Lalit Modi did not graduate from either of these institutions.

In 1986, Lalit Modi sought permission from the court to return to India, citing bad health.

In 1986, Lalit Modi came back to Delhi, and joined the family business.

Lalit Modi served as the President of International Tobacco Company Limited from 1987 to 1991.

In Delhi, Lalit Modi started courting the nine-years-older Minal Sagrani, who was the daughter of Nigeria-based Sindhi Hindu businessman, Pesu Aswani, and the ex-wife of another Nigeria-based Sindhi businessman, Jack Sagrani.

Lalit Modi's family initially opposed the marriage, as Minal was a recently divorced mother and nine years older than him.

Lalit Modi managed to get his grandmother Dayawati Lalit Modi on his side, who convinced the family to agree to the marriage.

Lalit Modi has a step-daughter Karima Sagrani, from Minal's first marriage.

In 1993, Lalit Modi established Lalit Modi Entertainment Networks, using money from a family trust.

Lalit Modi's job was to collect money from the cable companies in India in exchange for the broadcasting ESPN.

ESPN did not renew its contract with Lalit Modi, alleging that he underreported revenues.

MEN lost a contract with Fashion TV, after Lalit Modi fell out with its founder Michel Adam Lisowski.

Later, Lalit Modi became the President and managing director of Lalit Modi Enterprises, an industrial conglomerate run by his family.

In 2002, Lalit Modi launched an online lottery business in Kerala called Sixo.

In 2004, Lalit Modi was elected as the vice-president of the Punjab Cricket Association, under the President Inderjit Singh Bindra.

Lalit Modi knew Raje through a common school friend Bina Kilachand, and had become one of the Chief Minister's closest associates.

In 2005, Lalit Modi used his connections with Raje to get the Rajasthan Sports Act passed.

Lalit Modi was heavily involved in the commercial side of the BCCI.

In 2008, Lalit Modi was instrumental in launching the Indian Premier League, based around Twenty20 cricket.

Lalit Modi engineered the IPL's move to South Africa in 2009, after the dates of the tournament clashed with the Indian general election and the Union Minister of Home Affairs, P Chidambaram, could not commit to the security of the tournament.

Lalit Modi's step-daughter Karima's husband Gaurav Burman was a stakeholder in Global Cricket Venture, which won the digital, mobile and internet rights of the IPL.

Rajasthan Royals, Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders were the cheapest franchises and very closely priced, leading to speculation that Lalit Modi had passed on insider information to the owners.

Lalit Modi continued to live in Mumbai, where his network had expanded to include leading industrialists and Bollywood stars.

Lalit Modi visited Jaipur frequently, and stayed at the Rambagh Palace, where ministers and civil servants would queue up to meet him and ask for favours.

Lalit Modi entered the real estate business with a company called Amer Heritage City Construction Pvt Ltd, where his wife, Minal, served as a director.

Lalit Modi pressured local officials and secured control of two havelis near the Amer Fort, in contravention of Archaeological Survey of India's rules.

Lalit Modi intended to renovate and convert these havelis into a heritage resort.

In 2007, Lalit Modi disallowed the IAS officer Mahendra Surana to watch a match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, because he believed Suarana to be an associate of the Rungta faction of RCA.

When Surana and his friend Hemendra Suarana arrived at the Stadium, Lalit Modi tore their tickets.

Lalit Modi's increasing power in Rajasthan politics became a key issue in the 2008 Rajasthan elections, which Raje lost.

On 11 April 2010, when a formal agreement was being signed between BCCI and the Kochi franchise, Lalit Modi asked the Kochi representatives about the identities of the sweat equity holders in the franchise.

Shortly after the agreement was signed, Lalit Modi disclosed the names of Kochi's stakeholders via a tweet.

Lalit Modi alleged that Pushkar's shares were actually a hidden gift to Tharoor.

RSW threatened to sue Lalit Modi for violating confidentiality agreement, and claimed that Lalit Modi was creating problems for Kochi because he wanted other bidders to win.

On 16 April 2010, the representatives of the Kochi franchise complained to BCCI that Lalit Modi had threatened them to give up the franchise.

Lalit Modi spent time expanding his family business in Europe.

Lalit Modi believed that N Srinivasan, who later became the BCCI President, had masterminded his ouster from BCCI.

In 2012, Lalit Modi alleged that Srinivasan had fixed the auction of Andrew Flintoff in 2009.

Lalit Modi supported Aditya Verma, the secretary of Cricket Association of Bihar, who was fighting a separate legal battle against Srinivasan.

Lalit Modi defended himself arguing that he was not individually responsible for the decisions: BCCI and its committees took these decisions collectively.

Lalit Modi refused to return to India, stating that there was a threat to his life.

In 2010, Lalit Modi claimed on Twitter that New Zealand cricketer Chris Cairns had been involved in match-fixing during 2008.

In March 2012, Cairns successfully sued Lalit Modi for making false statements and won $950,000 in damages.

On 6 May 2014, Lalit Modi was re-elected as the president of Rajasthan Cricket Association, while residing in London.

Lalit Modi took the legal route to fight BCCI's declaration.

In March 2014, Lalit Modi alleged that the International Cricket Council had evidence regarding the existence of spot and match-fixing in the Champions League T20 cricket tournament and that world cricket's governing body was deliberately not making it public.

On 9 March 2015, a group led by Amin Pathan moved a no-confidence motion against Lalit Modi, who was until then, the President of RCA.

Only one vote in Lalit Modi's support was counted: five other votes were discarded as disputed.

In March 2010, while Lalit Modi was in London, the Congress-led Indian Government revoked his passport.

Lalit Modi revealed that on 25 August 2011, BJP leader Vasundhara Raje signed a document supporting his application to the British authorities.

The opposition parties accused the BJP leaders of shielding Lalit Modi, who was wanted in several cases of financial irregularities in India.

However, in June 2015, and despite the Interpol notice, Lalit Modi took a picture with ex-Interpol Chief Ronald Noble and uploaded it to his Instagram account while attending the El Clasico match in Barcelona.

Ronald Noble explained that his brother and Lalit Modi entered into a joint business venture around the property, under which Lalit Modi would purchase the house, while James Noble would maintain it at his own expense.

Noble stated that there was no conflict of interest, because at the time of this deal he was not an Interpol employee and Lalit Modi was of no interest to Interpol.