A former model who lost a London High Court 'deceit' fight with a businessman who launched cricket's Indian Premier League has begun an appeal as she claims he lied and told her his cancer firm had Prince Andrew's backing.

Venture capitalist Gurpreet Gill Maag and her company Quantum Care had sued Lalit Modi over a £750,000 investment she made in cancer care company Ion Care, asking a judge to award damages.

She said she had invested after Mr Modi 'represented' to her that the Duke of York was among several high-profile people who were 'patrons' of Ion Care.

Mr Modi disputed her allegations.

Judge Murray Rosen, who heard evidence at a High Court trial in 2022, declined to find that Mr Modi had made 'actionable misrepresentations'.

Lawyers representing Mrs Maag on Wednesday asked Court of Appeal judges Lord Justice Newey, Lord Justice Singh and Lord Justice Nugee to overturn decisions made by Judge Rosen and order a re-trial.

The appeal hearing is due to end later this week.

Appearing in court in February 2022, Mrs Maag said she invested after Mr Modi 'represented' to her that the Duke of York was among several high-profile people who were 'patrons' of Ion Care.

She has told the judge that the King and Queen of Spain – Felipe VI and Queen Letizia – were also included as 'patrons' in an investor 'pitch'.

In a written witness statement, Mrs Maag said: 'Lalit said that Prince Andrew was very dear friend, with whom he commonly interacted.

'Lalit led me to believe, and I did believe – and indeed was impressed – that these very influential people had already agreed to be involved in ION Care.'

She said celebrities including footballer Cristiano Ronaldo and tennis player Roger Federer were also referred to, and added: 'Lalit referred to these individuals as being Ion Care's 'brand ambassadors'.'

Mrs Maag says she later found out that Mr Modi had made 'false statements in relation to the so-called patrons'.

Mr Modi's defence team denied all accusations of deceit and insisted: 'The alleged representations were not made in the manner alleged, and in any event, he did not intend for them to be relied upon by claimants in investing in Ion Care.'

Judge Rosen had said, in a written ruling in March 2022, that Quantum had taken on a 'heavy burden in seeking to establish a difficult case in deceit' and its evidence was 'manifestly not sound enough for that task'.

The judge said an investment of one million US dollars (£760,000) was subject to Mr Modi's 'contractual promise of repayment'.

He said there would be judgment against Mr Modi for the balance of 800,000 dollars (£610,000) still owed to Mrs Maag.

The judge had said: 'I decline to find that Mr Modi made actionable misrepresentations as alleged.'

He ruled that Quantum's deceit claim against Mr Modi fell to be dismissed, but Mrs Maag did win a ruling for breach of contract.

The judge went on: 'Even if that were wrong, apart from its one million US dollar investment which is subject to Mr Modi's contractual promise of repayment, I am not persuaded that it suffered any recoverable loss.

'There will be judgment for Quantum against Mr Modi for the balance of 800,000 US dollars owing under his contract, and interest. Quantum's claims otherwise fail.'

The cricket mogul Mr Modi founded and ran the IPL for its first three years, until 2010.