ED hands over four attached flats of fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi for asset recovery
NEW DELHI: In a move against fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi in Rs 6000 crore PNB scam, the Enforcement directorate (ED) has handed over four flats of Gitanjali Gems Ltd to the liquidator, the agency said on Monday. The agency has facilitated the handing over of four flats in Project Tatva, Urja A Wing, Datthapada Road, Borivali (East), Mumbai, properties attached in the case of Mehul Choksi and others in PNB fraud case to the liquidator on November 21. It will enable the liquidator to proceed with monetisation for the benefit of victims, secured creditors and other legitimate claimants. Till now, immovable/movable properties located at Mumbai, Kolkata and Surat collectively having worth of Rs 310 crore have been handed over to the Liquidator of Gitanjali Gems Ltd, the agency said. Investigation in the case of Mehul Choksi revealed that Choksi connived with his associates and Bank officials of Punjab National Bank (PNB) during the period from 2014 to 2017 and fraudulently got issued Letters of Undertaking and Foreign Letters of Credit from PNB resulting in wrongful loss of Rs 6097.63 crore to PNB. He had also taken loan from ICICI Bank and had defaulted on that loan too. During the investigation, ED conducted searches at more than 136 locations all over India and seized valuables and jewelleries worth Rs 597.75 crore pertaining to Gitanjali Group of Mehul Choksi. Further, immovable/movable assets worth Rs 1968.15 Crore of Mehul Choksi/Gitanjali Group were attached which included immovable properties in India and overseas, vehicles, bank accounts, factory, shares of listed companies, jewellery, among others. In aggregate, assets worth Rs 2565.90 crore were attached or seized in this case and three Prosecution Complaints have been filed, the agency said in the matter. To expedite the process of restitution of properties to the victim banks, ED along with the banks took proactive steps towards monetisation of assets.
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