Ness Wadia, business tycoon and co-owner of Kings XI Punjab cricket team, has been sentenced to a two-year jail term in Japan for possession of drugs. According to a report in the Financial Times, Ness Wadia was arrested at New Chitose Airport in the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido while carrying 25g of cannabis resin in early March.
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The Financial Times report said Wadia has admitted to possession, saying that the drug was for his personal use. He has already spent a period in detention before his indictment on March 20. The Sapporo District Court handed him a two-year prison sentence, which was suspended for five years.
Ness Wadia is the eldest son of Nusli Wadia and heir to the 283-year-old Wadia Group. Apart from the shares in the Punjab IPL franchise, the Wadia empire includes Bombay Dyeing, Britannia Industries, Bombay Burman Trading and budget airline GoAir. The total market valuation of the empire is estimated to be $13.1 billion.
It is not the first time that Ness Wadia has hit the headlines for the wrong reasons. In 2014, he was accused of molestation by Bollywood actress Preity Zinta. The case was later withdrawn by Zinta.