Choksi managers hid fraud-related papers in houses rented in names of staff: CBI
Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi’s managers rented apartments in Mumbai in the names of some of their employees to hide the original documents related to the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud, according to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)’s supplementary charge sheet against 22 accused in the case.
Choksi, 62, faces charges of getting 165 Letters of Undertaking (LOUs) and 58 FLCs (Foreign Letters of Credit) fraudulently issued in 2017 in connivance with officials of the state-run bank. The fraud led to a loss of ₹6,097 crore ($952 million) to the state-run bank, the CBI said.
A special court on Tuesday took cognisance of the charge sheet and issued a fresh non-bailable warrant against Choksi. In the fresh charge sheet, the CBI said the documents were shifted from time to time from rented places on the instructions of Vipul Chitalia, the then vice-president of Choksi’s Gitanjali Group.
“Gokulnath Raghu Shetty, Dy. Manager, PNB, had after issuance of above 165 fraudulent LOUs (letters of undertaking issued by Brady House branch of PNB in favour of Gitanjali group companies) in March /Apri| 2017, and fraudulent amendments made in 58 FLCs (foreign letters of credit) of 2017, returned all the original applications along with other accompanying documents submitted by M/s.Gitanjali Gems Ltd, M/s.Gili lndia Ltd and M/s. Nakshatra Brands Ltd back to them, which should have been in the custody of the bank,” said the charge-sheet.
It added later the documents were again shifted on February 5, 2018 to a shop in Bhimrao Wadi, which was also rented at the instance of Chitalia “with the intention to cause the disappearance of evidence.” The CBI recovered the documents during the searches it conducted during the investigation into the case.
The CBI said Chitalia maintained records of fraudulent LOUs and FLCs in Google Drive at Choksi’s behest. The drive was recovered when Chitalia was in its custody.
The charge sheet said Choksi knew about the impending criminal proceedings and hence fled the country on January 4, 2018, with a “dishonest intent, to evade the process of law”. It added that a month before he fled the country in January 2018, Choksi instructed all the directors of the group’s Hong Kong firms to shift to Thailand.
Choksi acquired citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda after fleeing India in January 2018. He has challenged in court the island nation’s move to revoke his citizenship. He went missing from Antigua on May 23 and was later found in Dominica where he faces charges of illegal entry. His family and lawyers have alleged he was abducted and are trying to prevent his deportation to India to stand trial.
India has told a Dominican court that Choksi was still an Indian citizen since his request to renounce his Indian citizenship was not accepted.
Choksi’s lawyer, Vijay Aggarwal, has said this supplementary charge sheet shows it is only an attempt to cover up anomalies that the defence pointed out in the first charge sheet
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