Billionaire jewellery designer Nirav Modi had left the country on January 1, long before the CBI received a complaint from Punjab National Bank on January 29 about a Rs. 280-crore fraud, officials said.

His brother Nishal, a Belgian citizen, also left the country on January 1, while his wife Ami, a US citizen, and business partner Mehul Choksi, the Indian promoter of Gitanjali jewellery chain, flew out on January 6, the officials said.