The CBI has filed a supplementary chargesheet against fugitive diamond trader Mehul Choksi and 21 others, in which for the first time Mehul Choksi has been accused of destroying evidence.
The agency’s chargesheet claimed that Choksi, in connivance with PNB officials, fraudulently issued 165 Letters of Undertaking (LoU) and 58 FLC (Foreign Letters of Credit) in 2017 causing Rs 6,097 crore ($952 million) to the bank. damage occurred. After this he was also involved in erasing the evidence.
Officials said the new chargesheet would be shared with authorities and courts in Dominica to promote India’s deportation petition. Besides Choksi, 21 persons and companies have been named in the chargesheet, including retired deputy manager of PNB Gokulnath Shetty, single window operator Hanumant Karat, former Allahabad Bank managing director Usha Ananthasubramaniam, former PNB executive director KV Brahmaji Rao and Sanjeev Sharan. . Apart from this, Nehal Ahad, former general manager of the bank, Vipul Chitalia, former vice-chairman of Choksi’s Gitanjali group and some companies are also involved.
The chargesheet states, “In December 2017, Mehul Choksi visited Hong Kong and met dummy directors of Hong Kong-based supplier entities (controlled by him) and told them that there were ongoing problems in India related to his company – Gitanjali Group. and that of the Enforcement Directorate (ED)You may have to face questioning.This shows that Mehul Choksi had prior knowledge about the criminal action. Hence, he fled the country on January 4, 2018 to evade the process of law.
This chargesheet was filed by the CBI on June 10. The first chargesheet against Mehul Choksi was filed in 2018. Mehul Choksi was once a diamond business tycoon, who is now a big fraudster. Choksi is accused of speeding up the business of Diamond Gems jewelery under different brand names, costing him Rs 6,498 crore.
Mehul Choksi shook hands with Nirav Modi
After this, Mehul Choksi partnered with Nirav Modi and partnered in Stellar Diamond, Diamond R and Solar Exporters Company. Together these two started compromising with the quality of the diamond and illegal transactions worth lakhs of rupees started being done in different bank accounts. However, in 2016, Choksi had to face heavy losses.
Petitions are also filed in Dominican Court
Along with this, 2 petitions have been filed in the Dominican Court from India regarding the Mehul Choksi case. In order to ensure the extradition of Choksi to India, India has filed a prosecution petition before the Dominica High Court. These impeachment petitions have been filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Ministry of External Affairs.
