Mehul Choksi, the promoter of Gitanjali Group and maternal uncle of the diamond czar Nirav Modi, who is also an accused in the Rs 11,300 crore PNB fraud, on Saturday released a letter to his employees in which he said that he has done nothing wrong and truth shall prevail.
“I will face my destiny and I know I have done nothing wrong and ultimately the truth shall prevail,†Choksi said in a letter released by his lawyer Sanjay Abbot.
Choksi expressed his “helplessness†to clear the dues of his company’s 3,500 employees as investigative agencies have seized his bank accounts and other properties.
“I am facing a lot of problems due to the manner in which the multiple investigative agencies/ government agencies have started to create a havoc, hell bent upon stopping the operations,†he added.
He also expressed his fear of safety for himself and his family on account of the ongoing “unfair treatment, investigation, media frenzy and political statementsâ€, and alleged that the probe was being done to create a fear psychosis in the minds of employees.
Choksi’s letter comes a day after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigated around 144 “suspicious companies “associated with diamond merchant and his nephew Nirav Modi.
Earlier this month, Punjab National Bank (PNB) had disclosed the involvement of Nirav Modi and Choksi in the mutli-crore scam. The companies were investigated to check if these firms laundered money through the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) method.
PNB lodged two financial fraud complaints of Rs 11,400 crore and Rs 280 crore against Nirav Modi, his family members and the owner of Gitanjali Gems.
Following which, the external affairs ministry had cancelled the passports of both the jewellers for four weeks.
Nirav Modi, a regular on the lists of rich and famous Indians since 2013, was booked by the CBI, along with wife, brother and business partner and Choksi on January 31, for allegedly cheating the state-run Punjab National Bank to the tune of Rs 280 crore.
The bank again approached the CBI within a fortnight of the first complaint giving details of more transactions which were over Rs 11,400 crore.
The question as to why the PNB did not send a complaint to the CBI and decided to give it in tranches is also under the scanner of the agency, they said.
An LoU is a letter of comfort issued by one bank to branches of other banks, based on which foreign branches offer credit to buyers.
The bank has claimed in three complaints to the CBI that so far it has detected 150 LoUs which were fraudulently issued by its officials in connivance with Nirav Modi and the other accused in the case, the officials said.
The agency is analysing the fresh complaints and will take a call whether to register fresh FIRs or expand the ambit of the existing FIR related to fraudulent transactions of worth Rs 280 crore, they said.
In these cases, the bank has alleged that the LOUs were issued to Hong Kong based branches of Allahabad and Axis bank, they said.
The PNB has claimed in the complaint that overseas branch of banks used the funds to clear their own liabilities, the officials said.
With PTI Input
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