#mehul choksi family

[breakingnews365]

Bad Boy Billionaires: Mehul Choksi moves High Court regarding Netflix Web Series

Bad Boy Billionaires: Mehul Choksi moves High Court regarding Netflix Web Series

Netflix has announced the new documentary web series Bad Boy Billionaires. This document-series will show the story of some of the major economic crimes in the country and the industrialists who executed it. After the announcement of this series, the proclaimed fugitive diamond trader Mehul Choksi, through his lawyer Vijay Agarwal, has approached the Delhi High Court seeking a preview of the…

[insightonlinenews]

ED attaches Nirav Modi’s foreign assets worth Rs 637 cr

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Monday it has attached foreign properties of fugitive diamond jeweller Nirav Modi worth Rs 637 crore in its ongoing investigation into the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud.

A senior ED official said that the financial probe agency has been working in close coordination with other foreign agencies in order to identify and attach foreign properties of Nirav Modikept secret at various international locations.

The attached properties were in the form of jewellery, bank accounts and immovable properties.

The official also said that it has brought diamond jewellery worth Rs 22.69 crore back to India from Hong Kong.

According to the ED, a stock of jewellery was exported to Hong Kong after a case was registered against Nirav Modi by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in January.

This was kept in a vault of a private company in Hong Kong on behalf of Nirav Modi.

“The agency contacted the company and its London headquarters and after much persuasion and follow up, it successfully brought back the jewellery to India,” the official said.

He also said that the stock value of the jewellery was around Rs 85 crore and the jewellery was sent to Hong Kong by Firestar Group of Companies. On independent valuation, the value of jewellery came to Rs 22.69 crore.

The ED has also attached a flat in south Mumbai worth Rs 19.5 crore which was on the name of Nirav Modi’s sister Purvi, who is a Belgian national.

The official said that the flat was purchased by Purvi in 2017 and the deed was signed by Nirav Nodi’s brother Neeshal, who is also a Belgian national and who held a power of attorney.

“But the consideration of the flat was paid by Purvi through her Barclays Bank account maintained in Singapore,” the official said.

Meanwhile, the agency also attached five bank accounts containing over Rs 278 crore, belonging to Nirav Modi, Purvi and others in the case.

Interpol has issued an RCN against Nirav Modi, Neeshal, Purvi and his executive Subhash Parab.

Interpol on Monday on the request of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and ED issued a Red Corner Notice (RCN) against Nirav Modi’s trusted official Aditya Nanavati in the PNB fraud.

According to CBI sources, Nanavati’s links with Neeshal have been found.

Nanavati used to head the operations of the Firestar Diamond’s business in Hong Kong. It is learnt that he was also in Belgium.

Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi of Gitanjali Group are under probe by both the CBI and ED. The ED had on May 24 and 26 filed the charge-sheets against both.

Non-bailable warrants have been issued against them.

Nirav Modi left India along with his family in the first week of January, before the scam was reported to the CBI.

Source:- International Business News Today

[thealikecom]

Mehul Choksi arrested in Dominica, family says relieved he is safe

[gretonew]

Fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi returned to Antigua and Barbuda on Thursday morning, three days after he was granted bail by Dominica High Court in an illegal entry case, reports said.

Choksi got bail on medical grounds. He will have to go back to Dominica after he is certified fit to travel.

The businessman was brought to Antigua and Barbuda in an air ambulance. He landed at the VC Bird International Airport around 3.30 pm (Caribbean time) on Wednesday, which is early Thursday according to Indian Standard Time. Officials from Antigua and Barbuda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs received him.

Choksi’s lawyer Vijay Aggarwal told the Hindustan Times that he is undergoing medical treatment in Antigua and Barbuda. “His family is feeling relieved, however, torture during kidnapping has caused him lot of psychological and physical harm,” Aggarwal claimed. “All well that ends well. After tasting success in Dominica now, [the] legal team is gearing up for [a] long drawn fight in Antigua”.

The businessman suffers from neurological and heart disorders as well as diabetes, according to India Today.

BREAKING: Choksi lands in Antigua https://t.co/qthemQASLV via @AntiguaNewsRoom

— AntiguaNewsRoom (@AntiguaNewsRoom) July 14, 2021

Also read:

PNB scam: Mehul Choksi charged with destruction of evidence in CBI’s supplementary chargesheet

Mehul Choksi claims he was abducted, taken to Dominica to be interviewed by ‘Indian politician’

Choksi is wanted...

Read more

from Scroll.in https://ift.tt/3z0N81q

[werindialive]

Dominican Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit reacts to Mehul Choksi’s allegations

On Thursday Dominican Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit rejected the claims made by fugitive Indian businessman Mehul Choksi. Mehul in his claims said that he was brought to the island as a part of the planning between Dominica, India, and Antigua and Barbuda. The Dominican PM claimed that such allegations were total nonsense, as reported by a local news daily.

Responding to the claims of Mehul & his family for the first time, the Dominican PM declined any of the information. He said that the claims that the three governments colluded to ensure Mehul is sent to India to appear for the trials of Rs. 13500 crore bank fraud case.

As per the legal team of the businessmen, the police officers from Antigua and India abducted him on May 23 and brought to Dominica in a boat the next day. In Dominica, police officer received and there were plans to quietly deport him to India.

Responding to it Skerrit said that it all sounds absurd.

“To say that the government of Dominica and the government of Antigua along with India colluded in any way, give me a break, that’s total nonsense. We don’t get involved ourselves in those kinds of activities, those practices, not at all. I mean that is absurd and we reject it and it is unfortunate that anybody would want to propagate this unsubstantiated claim by a gentleman who is before the courts,” Skerrit said while interacting to the journalists as per his weekly routine.

Skerrit went ahead and urged all the opposition parties in Dominica to not pass any irrelevant and misinformed remarks on the above described case. He also emphasized that his government is dedicated to maintain parity in judging the accused and irrespective of who commits the crime, he/ she shall be treated the same.

For more national news India, subscribe to our newsletter.

[mytracknews]

Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi is missing in Antigua, family members worried: Lawyer

Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi is missing in Antigua, family members worried: Lawyer

New Delhi: Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi, who is needed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a multi-crore Punjab National Bank fraud case, has gone��lacking in Antigua and Barbuda. In a unique assertion to ANI, Choksi`s counsel advocate Vijay Aggarwal confirmed that he’s lacking within the island nation. His lawyer stated, “Mr. Mehul Choksi is…

[newsmatters]

Fugitive Businessman Mehul Choksi Goes Missing in Antigua, Family 'Anxious & Worried', Says Lawyer

Fugitive Businessman Mehul Choksi Goes Missing in Antigua, Family ‘Anxious & Worried’, Says Lawyer

Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi is understood to have gone missing in Antigua and Barbuda with the police launching a manhunt to trace him since Sunday, local media outlets reported. “Antiguanewsroom”, a local media outlet, quoted Commissioner of Police Atlee Rodney on Tuesday that the police are “following up on the whereabouts of Indian businessman Mehul Choksi”, who is “rumoured” to be…

[brisbanecollection-blog]

Behind bars: India's 'Diamond King' Nirav Modi's fall from grace

Today, the "jeweller to the stars", as he was frequently called, is behind bars after a year-long Interpol-led manhunt that led to his arrest in central London on March 19. Together with his diamond polisher uncle, Mehul Choksi, he is accused of conniving with junior tellers to defraud the Mumbai branch of India's second-largest state-run bank, the Punjab National Bank, of billions of dollars. Scotland Yard made the arrest on behalf of Indian authorities, who have asked for his extradition. Two weeks earlier, his whereabouts were exposed when Britain's Telegraph newspaper doorstopped him near a flat he was renting in Soho. They found him sporting a handlebar moustache and an ostrich-skin jacket. The "Great Indian Bank Robbery", as Indian media outlets have dubbed it, has shaken the country's $US35-billion diamond sector to the core. From the small family-run concerns of Zaveri Bazaar to the dealers at Mumbai's glistening Bharat Diamond Bourse, the largest in the world, many traders fear that an industry that largely ran on trust might find its reputation on par with that of the scavengers sweeping the streets outside their shops. Modi came from the Jain community of Palanpur, a small town in the western state of Gujarat. And it is among the Palanpuri Jains that the fallout of his alleged crimes is being most acutely felt.

Mumbais jewellery market, the Zaveri Bazaar. Credit:Getty Images The alleged modus operandi behind the biggest bank fraud in Indian history was revealed in a July 2018 dossier prepared for the US Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York, which is investigating the activities of three of Modi's American jewellery companies. According to the 165-page dossier, Modi and his co-conspirators illegally borrowed approximately $US4 billion over a period of seven years by manufacturing sham transactions purportedly to "import" diamonds and other gems into India from trading hubs such as Belgium's Antwerp, using a web of more than 20 secretly controlled shell entities. Diamonds sold to or purchased from these entities "were routinely shipped out the same day or within days after arrival, without ever being opened or inspected by employees to ascertain the contents of the packets", the dossier states. Certain high-value diamonds were bought and sold multiple times at often wildly inflated prices in order to create the appearance of millions of dollars worth of legitimate transactions and to facilitate the movement of funds. Fraudulently obtained letters of undertaking (LOUs), or guarantees under which Indian banks allow their customers to obtain short-term credit from another bank's foreign branch to facilitate import transactions into India, were also used. It was only when one of the bank employees allegedly involved in the scam retired that the seven-year-long operation was exposed. US authorities are also believed to be considering extraditing Modi. Punjab National Bank shares plummeted when the scandal broke in February 2018, as did confidence in India's dysfunctional state-run banking sector, which has lost billions of dollars in recent years from investor frauds. Screaming matches erupted in India's parliament, with opposition parties accusing the government of colluding with the diamantaire to allow him to flee the country. Modi had left India early the previous month bound for Britain, the bolthole of choice for business barons wanted by Indian authorities for tax evasion, fraud and other related crimes. Modi's Indian assets, including the flagship stores that bore his name, a fleet of luxury cars and several factories, have been seized by the authorities. Last month, his art collection was auctioned by India's tax authority, raising $US8 million. Thousands of his employees have been laid off. Modi's Indian lawyer, Vijay Aggarwal, has successfully defended some of India's largest corporate fraud cases. Described as "pugilistic, pugnacious and aggressive" by his critics, his courtroom victories include securing the acquittal of several high-profile businessmen and politicians accused of defrauding the state of a staggering $US26 billion in the allocation of second generation or 2G telecom licences. Aggarwal, who did not respond to interview requests by Good Weekend, told a Mumbai court in January that India's Enforcement Directorate had tried to "falsely implicate" his client by giving a "colour of criminality" to "usual civil banking transactions" to camouflage the bank's failures in connection with the alleged scam. Modi's defence team is expected to argue that the charges against him are politically motivated. India is in the middle of a six-week-long national election, with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's alleged connivance with corrupt business figures a major issue. For a man whose number was once on the speed-dial of many of Mumbai's A-list, Modi's fall from grace has been dramatic. The 48-year-old grew up in Belgium, where his father, Deepak Modi, ran a business trading in uncut diamonds. He attended the Antwerp International School, where he dreamt of becoming a music conductor, but instead enrolled in Wharton business college at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1990, he moved from the US to Mumbai to begin a decade-long apprenticeship with his uncle, Mehul Choksi, learning everything from polishing diamonds to selling them. He would later say that he worked 12 hours a day, six and a half days a week, for 3500 rupees ($70) a month. By 1999, he had raised enough capital to launch his own company, Firestar Diamond. Over the next few years, Firestar went on to raise hundreds of millions of dollars to acquire firms such as US-based jewellery retailer Samuels and the De Beers-owned Nakshatra brand, which had 480 stores in India.

Modis uncle and co-accused, Mehul Choksi, with Bollywood actress Urvashi Sharma. Credit:AFP When the global financial crisis hit in 2008 and the value of large diamonds fell by up to 40 per cent, Modi took the opportunity to buy diamonds at cheap prices, including $15 million worth of rare pink diamonds from Argyle in Australia's Kimberley. In 2009, he switched his main supplier from De Beers to Russia's Alrosa, just as the global diamond giant's output plummeted and the Russian company's rose. His move from retail to design came in 2009, when a friend asked him to make a pair of earrings for her. After months of persuasion, he relented. "I can actually look back to [this] single moment that propelled me into starting my eponymous brand," Modi told Forbes in 2017. He had at last found his calling. His big breakthrough as a designer came in 2010, when a necklace set with a flawless pear-shaped 12.29-carat Golconda diamond was featured on the cover of a Christie's auction catalogue.

Modis 12.29-carat Golconda diamond necklace. The piece went under the hammer in Hong Kong for $US3.6 million, nearly a million dollars more than its asking price. A year later, he launched his eponymous Nirav Modi brand, a line that would blend the best of Eastern and Western designs. "All of my jewellery marries my Indian roots with my international exposure and love of art, nature, travel and poetry," he once said. "Every collection has its own unique story to tell." His target buyer was the "woman of global sensibilities". His focus was on delivering pieces that would go as well with a gown as with a sari. "The jewellery should move with the woman, it should be a second skin." No expense was spared in achieving his dream of becoming one of the world's top five luxury jewellery brands. Millions of dollars were spent on two state-of-the-art factories in India to manufacture his designs. Showrooms fitted out by Spanish artist-designer Jaime Hayon sprang up in cities such as New York, London, New Delhi and Hong Kong. Former palaces were hired for product launches, with Bollywood stars and Indian billionaires arriving by private jet. Modi's public persona he was rarely photographed without being flanked by celebrities was very different to his private one. "He never could look you in the eye," says a former business associate, who asks not to be named. "He always played his cards close to his chest."

Nirav Modi with actor Naomi Watts at the opening of his New York boutique in 2015.Credit:Getty Images By 2013, Modi had entered the Forbes list of billionaires with a net worth of $US1.4 billion and two years later, became the first Indian retailer to open on New York's Madison Avenue. His signature pieces now graced the necklines and earlobes of celebrities such as Naomi Watts, Kate Winslet, Taraji P. Henson and supermodel Karlie Kloss as they strode down the red carpet at the Oscars. British actor and model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley was hired to be the "face" of the brand. Indian actress Priyanka Chopra (now Chopra-Jonas) appeared in a commercial that ended with the punchline "Say Yes, Forever". Chopra-Jonas is now suing Modi for non-payment of fees. The fallout from the Modi affair goes far deeper than his failure to settle his debts. Shortly after India's independence in 1947, the Jains of Palanpur followers of a religion which emerged on the subcontinent around the sixth century BC and which preaches non-violence, strict vegetarianism and renunciation of worldly effects abandoned their traditional occupations as bankers and money-lenders and began trading in diamonds. Like Modi's father, many moved to Antwerp, buying low-quality roughs, sending them back to India for polishing and then selling them at a small profit. Today a community of no more than 20,000 controls India's multibillion-dollar diamond cutting and polishing industry. Modi never could look you in the eye. He always played his cards close to his chest. "Their reputation has definitely taken a beating because of Modi," says Usha Balakrishnan, a Mumbai-based authority on India's jewellery trade. "Normally the community will close ranks behind one of their own. This time, they have disowned him." Balakrishnan traces the community's rise to the 1960s, when De Beers began looking for a centre to cut and polish its vast stockpile of industrial and small diamonds. India's plentiful supply of low-cost skilled labour made it the most attractive option and the Palanpuris were well positioned to supply the mining giant's demands. Community members started returning to India, where they dominated the wholesale diamond trade in Zaveri Bazaar and the cutting and polishing centres in cities such as Surat in Gujarat. When Zaveri Bazaar's congested office spaces became too small, most traders moved to the Bharat Diamond Bourse, a sprawling eight-hectare complex in central Mumbai that opened in 2001 and is now home to more than 2500 companies. Known for their work ethic and close family ties, Palanpuri Jains rarely marry outside their community. If one of their own falls on hard times, extended families act as a safety net, providing jobs, accommodation and financial help. Networks of loyalty and trust that go back generations have been shaken by Modi's alleged wrongdoings. Ashish Mehta, a Palanpuri Jain whose company, Kantilal Chhotalal, is one of the diamond industry's leading players, says the allegations surrounding Modi have shocked the community. "The last few years when he was opening stores in places like London, New York and Hong Kong, most people were wondering how he was able to grow so fast. Nobody knew that there was this borrowed money behind the market aggression that he was showing. That was to most of us a big surprise."

Model/actor Rosie Huntington-Whiteley at another Modi store-opening in London in 2016.Credit:Alamy Modi kept a low profile in the community, once boasting: "Ask any jeweller in Mumbai if he has met me in the last decade and the answer you'll get is no." When it came to networking with the city's business and cultural elite, however, he was everywhere, buying up contemporary Indian art at auctions, attending high-society weddings, and enticing Bollywood stars to buy his creations. He was anathema in a traditionally conservative community that shied away from retail and prided themselves on keeping out of the spotlight. After the Punjab National Bank scandal broke, the demand for diamond jewellery in India plummeted by 10 to 15 per cent, according to the Indian industry lobby group Assocham. There are also fears that India might lose its near monopoly on diamond cutting and polishing, with new entrants such as China poised to take advantage of the turmoil. Small and medium-sized traders are feeling the greatest impact, says Mehta. "Banks are worried, so they have curtailed their lending facilities and are now asking for more collateral than before." While hikes in short-term interest rates and a tightening of repayment terms are quantifiable, the erosion of trust is harder to measure. At Mumbai's Diamond Bourse, transactions worth millions of dollars are sealed with a handshake and contracts and invoices are almost unheard of. Even the transportation of rough diamonds from the bourse to the cutting and polishing centres is entrusted to a centuries-old system run by the Angadias, a community of couriers who secrete their precious cargo in hidden pockets and rely on their anonymity to keep it safe. Naming and shaming is not something that comes naturally to Palanpuri Jains, but Mehta concedes that Modi's actions have harmed the trade. "When the consumers see that there is a guy like this in your community, your credibility for sure gets affected." Back in Zaveri Bazaar, the streets have been swept by the niarewalas to a level of cleanliness uncharacteristic by Mumbai standards and the stores are starting to open. My guide is the pugnacious Rajesh Chugani, a small-time jewellery manufacturer who buys his stones from local wholesalers and sends them to his workshop in nearby Masjid Bandar. Chugani takes me deep inside the labyrinthine laneways of the bazaar, up crumbling staircases and down dimly lit corridors so narrow two people can hardly pass. An open doorway reveals a huddle of buyers engaged in heated negotiations with a wholesaler over a fistful of gold necklaces. Further on, a diamond is being cut in a hot and humid room no bigger than a broom closet. Business is brisk and demand for traditional commodities such as gold is as strong as ever. But the traders Chugani deals with say the Modi affair has made it harder for them to get bank credit and consumers are suspicious about the quality of stones on sale. "In this industry it's impossible to grow overnight; that should have sent alarm bells ringing somewhere down the line, I think the government is also covering up," Chugani says, referring to the commonly held belief of a nexus of corruption between politicians and high-profile business people. Small units such as Chugani's have always accounted for the bulk of India's jewellery manufacturing. The set-up inside the four-metre by three-metre room where eight men work 10-hour days might look Dickensian, but it is sophisticated and includes the use of 3D-printers to make moulds, and a network of CCTV cameras that monitor every corner of the workshop and can be remotely controlled by an app on his smartphone. It's unlikely that Chugani's clients, many of whom are based in the Middle East, would know or care about the conditions under which their engagement rings or diamond bracelets are made. Maintaining close relations with his suppliers and customers and providing quality products is what makes thousands of businesses like his prosper. "Whatever you'll see in a catalogue, we can copy and sell it more cheaply," says Chugani as he inspects a diamond brooch that one of his workmen is repairing. "I can make you a Nirav Modi piece as well," he adds cheekily. "And I don't think he's in a position to complain if I do." Chugani is safe for now. Even if Britain accedes to India's extradition request, it may take years for the country's notoriously slow legal system to decide on Modi's guilt or innocence. The damage to the trust that has kept the diamond industry so prosperous may take even longer to repair. To read more from Good Weekend magazine, visit our page at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Brisbane Times Most Viewed in World Loading https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/asia/behind-bars-india-s-diamond-king-nirav-modi-s-fall-from-grace-20190423-p51gf4.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

[thealikecom]

PNB-accused Mehul Choksi goes missing in Antigua, family claims no clue

[sarkarimirror]

Ashok Gehlot Says Judiciary is in Crisis But PM Narendra Modi is Silent

Congress veteran and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday questioned the prime minister’s silence on the allegations of sexual harassment against the chief justice of India and said the judiciary is in crisis but Narendra Modi is unfazed. Two days after the prime minister addressed his first poll rally in the Jodhpur Lok Sabha segment, Gehlot targeted Modi for deflecting attention from “real issues”, including the raging crisis in the Supreme Court. The Congress has fielded Gehlot’s son Vaibhav Gehlot against the BJP’s Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. Congress president Rahul Gandhi is trying to bring Prime Minister Modi back to issues, the chief minister said before embarking on a daylong campaign to canvass votes for his son. “We are asking the PM about what is his policy on economy, farm crisis and foreign affairs. The Supreme Court is disturbed. The entire nation’s judiciary is concerned. There is a crisis in the judiciary never seen before and the prime minister is silent,” he asserted. A former Supreme Court staffer has alleged she was sexually harassed by CJI Ranjan Gogoi. Gogoi said the charges are “unbelievable” and part of a conspiracy by some “bigger force” to “deactivate” the CJI’s office. The senior Congress leader said the prime minister and the government should have taken very seriously the issue of four top judges of the Supreme Court holding a press conference last year. Had he handled the situation better, the current crisis could have been avoided, Gehlot said. The prime minister and the law minister should discuss and find a way out of this crisis, he suggested. The entire country’s judiciary is concerned… this situation poses a major challenge for democracy, Gehlot told reporters. Hitting out at Modi for the jibe that he was moving around in the streets of Jodhpur to help his son, Gehlot accused the prime minister of insulting a duly-elected chief minister. “The prime minister is elected by the people and I am also elected chief minister by the people of Rajasthan through democracy. Modi ji is saying all kinds of things against me only to win elections. This does not behove a prime minister. Is it fair to target an elected chief minister? Who gave him the right to insult the seven crore people of Rajasthan who duly elected me…He can fall to this level only to win elections,” he alleged. On Modi’s charge that he was found more in Delhi before the top Congress leadership than in the state, the Rajasthan chief minister said, “Modi ji is spying on me as he is more aware of my whereabouts. Spying is against the law.” Gehlot launched an all-out attack on Modi, saying he should have drawn lessons from former prime ministers like Indira Gandhi by taking opposition leaders along with him to do something good for the country in his five years of rule but has instead done only jumlebaazi and self promotion. Modi has in his poll rallies in southern Rajasthan launched a fierce attack on Gehlot in his bid to woo voters in the state ahead of the April 29 and May 6 elections in the state. Gehlot later told the people at his poll rallies that this election is important for Rajasthan as it will strengthen his government in ushering a new era of development to take the state forward. Urging people to vote for the Congress, Gehlot said it will help his government, elected three months ago, to work harder for public good. Gehlot has addressed three rallies in Falaudi, Pali and Kudi Bhagatasani and another three in Jodhpur city for his son Vaibhav. PM Narendra Modi jokes he helps maintain peace in Akshay Kumar's home, Twinkle Khanna reacts Twinkle Khanna is one of the wittiest stars of Bollywood, besides being an unapologetically bold speaker. Akshay Kumar, her husband, recently got the opportunity to have a one-on-one interview with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his residence. Reportedly, during the course of the interview, when Akshay asked PM Modi about his social media savviness, Modi jokingly said, 'I follow you and Twinkle Khanna ji on Twitter. From the way she targets me, I understand there must be peace in your family life. All her anger must have been spent on me, and so you must be feeling at peace.' To this Twinkle wrote on Twitter, 'I have a rather positive way of looking at this - Not only is the Prime Minister aware that I exist but he actually reads my work.' Read More Narendra Modi protected interests of '15 selected people': Rahul Gandhi By PTI LAKHIMPUR KHERI/UNNAO: Congress president Rahul Gandhi Wednesday accused him of protecting the interest of "15 selected people", while ignoring the farmers and the poor. "This chowkidar obliged 15 selected people during his five-year term but told sugarcane farmers that cane-farming caused 'sugar' (diabetes)," Gandhi alleged. The diabetes remark is usually attributed to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. "Narendra Modi in 2014 made a number of false assurances, on 'achhe din' (better days), two crore jobs, Rs 15 lakh in every bank account. But none of them came true," Gandhi said at an election rally in the Kheri Lok sabha constituency. The rally was organised in support of Zafar Ali Naqvi, the party's candidate for the constituency, and its nominee for the Nighasan assembly bypoll, Atal Shukla. He also addressed a meeting in Unnao. Gandhi repeated allegations of irregularities in the Rafale aircraft deal, which the government has denied. "Anil Ambani, who never manufactured an airplane, was awarded with a Rs 30,000 crore contract, but cane farmers were told that cane-farming caused sugar (diabetes) when they demanded their dues," he alleged. The government has repeatedly denied any corruption in the Rafale deal. Elaborating on his party's minimum income guarantee 'Nyay' scheme, Gandhi said, "The scheme was pronounced after due consultation with economists and think-tanks." "The scheme will provide annually Rs 72,000 in individual bank accounts of 25 crore poor people," he added. ALSO READ | Narendra Modi scoffs at Rahul Gandhi for 'daydreaming' about becoming PM The party has promised to give annual income support of Rs 72,000 to poor families under the scheme if voted to power, even as the BJP claimed that 'Nyay' will "ruin" fiscal discipline and the Congress will impose new taxes on the middle class to finance it. "The scheme has been thoroughly discussed and if crores of rupees owed by Anil Ambani, Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi can be waived, then Rs 3,60,000 crore for five crore families under Nyay can also be afforded," Gandhi said in a bid to allay fears about the scheme's feasibility. He said, "Unlike notebandi (demonetisation) and 'Gabbar Singh Tax' by the Modi government which disturbed the economy and employment, Nyay will benefit the economy by enhancing demand for consumer goods and thus, boosting the manufacturing sector and employment." The Congress chief has often termed the Goods and Services Tax (GST) as the "Gabbar Singh Tax". The Congress' manifesto reflects the views and suggestions of the common people and not "mann ki baat", Gandhi said, taking a swipe at Modi's monthly radio broadcast. He said as per suggestions from the people, the Congress manifesto provides no jail term for farmers who default loans. "Similarly, the Congress has decided to present a separate budget for farmers so that they can know about the MSP (minimum support price), bonus and cane dues in advance," the Congress chief said. He promised the youths that if the Congress is voted to power, the Centre will fill up 22 lakh government vacancies within a year after assuming office, besides employing 10 lakh youths in panchayats. Gandhi also assured them "to scrap permission for new entrepreneurship for initial three years to boost self-employment." Raising the issue of stray cattle in UP, he said, "The Modi government has made every farmer chowkidar of their crops and he (PM) himself became the chowkidar of Ambani." FOLLOW OUR FULL ELECTION COVERAGE HERE He claimed that his party will form the government at the Centre and that "after the Lok Sabha polls, the next target was (UP) assembly elections (in 2022) to ensure that the state is at the top in education, health and employment as before." Earlier, Congress general secretary in-charge of west UP Jyotiraditya Scindia made a scathing attack on the Modi and Adityanath governments and accused them of ignoring the farmers and the youth. "The Modi government promised to reduce the input cost by half and double the support price of farmers crops, But after five years, the cost has doubled, while the MSP has come to half," he said. Scindia also raised the issue of stray cattle, mob lynching in the name of 'gau-raksha' and farmers suicide. "People were beaten up in the name of gau-raksha but even now gau-matas were roaming on the roads and no gau-sewak was there to take care," he said. "In Madhya Pradesh, the Congress government has decided to set up cow-shelters and to look after them," Scindia pointed out. Reminding people about loan waivers within two days of forming the government in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, Scindia said the Congress did what it had promised and sought votes for the party in the ongoing elections "that will change the 'dasha' and 'disha' of the country". Later, addressing the election meeting in Unnao, Rahul Gandhi targeted Modi and said, "Five years ago, there was a slogan 'achche din aayenge', but now there is a slogan 'chowkidar chor hai'." He also raised questions on demonetisation. Read the full article

[breaking-news-portal]

Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi is missing in Antigua, family members worried: Lawyer

Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi is missing in Antigua, family members worried: Lawyer

New Delhi: Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi, who is wanted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a multi-crore Punjab National Bank fraud case, has gone missing in Antigua and Barbuda. In an exclusive statement to ANI, Choksi`s counsel advocate Vijay Aggarwal confirmed that he is missing in the island nation. His lawyer said, “Mr Mehul Choksi is…

[newsmatters]

Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi is missing in Antigua, family members worried: Lawyer

Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi is missing in Antigua, family members worried: Lawyer

New Delhi: Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi, who is wanted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a multi-crore Punjab National Bank fraud case, has gone missing in Antigua and Barbuda. In an exclusive statement to ANI, Choksi`s counsel advocate Vijay Aggarwal confirmed that he is missing in the island nation. His lawyer said, “Mr Mehul Choksi is…

[indizombie]

There is no end to greed. This is a truth we cannot escape as we examine the list of 2,426 wilful defaulters who owe Indian banks over Rs. 1.47 lakh crore. Almost all of these defaulters never ever had any intention of paying back. The top 33 in this list, who owe more than Rs. 500 crore each, alone account for Rs. 32,737 crore in unpaid dues. Vijay Mallya owes Rs. 9,000 crore. He is spending a fortune trying not to get himself extradited to India. Fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi, his wife Ami Modi, brother Neeshal Modi and uncle Mehul Choksi are involved in a bank fraud of Rs. 12,636 crore. The family was united in engineering this massive fraud. Fleeing abroad has been a common ploy employed by most scamsters. Mehul Choksi, who now lives on the Antigua and Barbuda islands of the Caribbean, owes Punjab National Bank Rs. 4,644 crore. The RBI has named him, along with the Jhunjhunwala brothers and Vijay Mallya, among the top 50 wilful defaulters who have scammed India’s banks. Choksi is wanted by judicial authorities in India, where he is to be tried for a host of crimes: corruption, cheating, dishonesty, criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, and money-laundering. Non-bailable warrants have been issued against him.

Ramesh Menon, 'Dilip Chhabria made crores designing cars, then why did he design creative ways to defraud banks?', Leaflet

[marymosley]

A Brief Guide to Interpol Notices

Interpol is an international police organization with over 190 member countries. Its aim is to facilitate international police cooperation. Each member country has a National Central Bureau with law enforcement officials. India is one of the oldest members of Interpol, having joined the organization in 1949.

Recently the Interpol has issued a Red Corner Notice (RCN) against Purvi Modi, the sister of Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud accused Nirav Modi. Interpol Notices are international requests for cooperation or alerts allowing police in member countries to share critical crime-related information and a notice can be issued against the party accused. For instance, the Red Corner Notice against Purvi Modi has been issued in connection with the PNB fraud case, and in response to a request from the Enforcement Directorate.

The Directorate of Enforcement is a law enforcement agency and economic intelligence agency responsible for enforcing economic laws and fighting economic crime in India. The ED’s (Enforcement Directorate) official website enlists its other objectives which are primarily linked to checking money laundering in India. As it is an investigation agency, providing the complete details on public domain is against the rules of Government of India. The prime objective of the Enforcement Directorate is the enforcement of two key Acts of the Government of India namely, the Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999 (FEMA) and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 (PMLA).

In most of the cases India has issued the Red Notice. The request for issuing a red corner notice against Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi has been sent by the Central Board of Intelligence (CBI) to Interpol.  The definition of the red notice is to seek the location and arrest of wanted persons with a view to extradition or similar lawful action. The persons concerned are wanted by national jurisdictions for prosecution or to serve a sentence based on an arrest warrant or court decision. The imposition of a Red Notice will have a detrimental effect on the individual. The individual’s international travel will then be curtailed, and the person can be stopped and arrested (if travelling through a member state). There will also be other detrimental consequences such as closures of bank accounts and issues with other financial institutions apart from reputational damage.

Nirav Modi’s family is the latest on the list of Interpol Red Corner Notices

  Interpol has issued Red Corner notices for 338 Indian nationals from the year 2008 to 2010. A Red Corner notice allows a warrant issued by a national authority to be circulated worldwide, with the request that the wanted person be arrested with a view to extradition. Earlier, Interpol had issued 495 Red Corner notices against Indians worldwide between 2001 and 2007. That means only 25 per cent of the total Red Corner notices against Indians originate because of a crime in their home country. In other words, three-fourths of the crimes committed by Indians that led to Red Corner notices against them, were abroad.

Apart from the Red Notice there are different types of Interpol Notices such as:

Yellow Notice – to help locate missing persons, often minors, or to help identify persons who are unable to identify themselves.

Blue Notice – issued to collect additional information about a person’s identity, location or activities in relation to a crime.

Black Notice – to seek information on unidentified bodies.

Green Notice – provides warnings and intelligence about individuals who have committed criminal offences and are likely to repeat these crimes in other countries.

Orange Notice – to warn of an event, a person, an object or a process representing a serious and imminent threat to public safety.

Interpol United Nations Security Council Special Notice– is issued for groups and individuals who are the targets of UN Security Council Sanctions Committees.

Purple Notice – to seek or provide information on modus operandi, objects, devices and concealment methods used by criminals.

Only those notices approved for public dissemination appear on Interpol’s website. Any individual subject to an Interpol Notice is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty. The country that sought the listing is notified through INTERPOL and can request either his provisional arrest (if there is urgency) or file a formal request for extradition. The country in which the individual is found is not compelled to act and may ignore the Notice if it believes that the requirements of an extradition treaty with the requesting country are not met. In addition, if the person is seized and the requirements of the extradition treaty are not satisfied by the requesting country, the person may be released. 

  Author:

Zoya Burbeza, Solicitor – Head of Russia & CIS Desk at Zaiwalla & Co. LLP London 

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[thealikecom]

Mehul Choksi arrested in Dominica, family says relieved he is safe

[cakandivali]

Mehul Choksi cheated Punjab & Sind Bank of Rs 441 million

Latest Updates - CA Mitesh MUMBAI: The public sector Punjab & Sind Bank (PSB) has revealed around Rs 441 million loan exposure to the absconding diamantaire Mehul Chinubhai Choksi, here on Saturday.This is the first time the 111-year-old bank has come clean on the default perpetrated by Choksi, who has now settled as a citizen of Antigua & Barbados, the West Indies.The New Delhi-based PSB has issued notices proclaiming him as a "willful defaulter" who owes the bank the amount for which it has initiated recovery proceedings against him.According to PSB, Choksi's company, Gitanjali Gems Ltd., including its merged entity Gitanjali Exports Ltd., had availed the loan from the bank.Choksi is a director plus a guarantor in the company and legal heir to Guniyal Choksi in the loan account.However, since they failed to clear the loan amount, the PSB declared it as a 'non-performing asset' on March 31, 2018, days after it dawned that Choksi and his family had already fled the country in February that year.The bank has now demanded that Choksi cough out the loan amount plus interest and other costs with effect from October 23, 2018 onwards.As he failed to comply, the PSB on September 17, 2019 declared him as a 'wilful defaulter'.With this, Choksi joins the bank's band of 27 other defaulters from different fields, based mainly in New Delhi, Punjab and Chandigarh, one in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh and two in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, against whom it has filed recovery suits.The latest development makes PSB the third prominent government-owned bank to reveal its exposure after Oriental Bank of Commerce came clean of loan defaults by Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi totaling to around Rs 289 crore. The 'chacha-bhatija' diamantaire duo shot into limelight in February 2018 after the Punjab National Bank revealed a massive fraud perpetrated by them running into over Rs 13,500 crore, sending shudders in the country's banking industry."Besides PSB, which has been a perpetually loss-making entity, several other banks have exposure to Choksi-Modi and their group companies. Why can't all the government banks come clean and jointly take legal action to recover their dues," former and Trade Unions Joint Action Committee (TUJAC), Maharashtra Convenor Vishwas Utagi said.Utagi said the other bigger questions are: What action has been taken against the departments and officers dealing in foreign exchange in Reserve Bank of India and other affected banks, how much of the outstandings from (Nirav Modi-Choksi and others) accused have been recovered so far and whether the details emerging now are under pressure' before the upcoming merger of banks.He has demanded a 'forensic audit' into all the accounts in all Indian banks held by the realty, gems & jewellery sectors on priority to reveal the extent of defaults and the collateral damage to society in the public interest.Earlier this year, the State Bank of India (SBI) had first bared its chest on a Rs 405 crore outstanding loan from Choksi and his family members.The SBI's disclosure had come barely two days after it became public that Choksi had surrendered his Indian citizenship and taken the nationality of Antigua & Barbados Islands.In March this year, millions in India were stunned to see a relaxed and well-dressed Nirav Modi sauntering down a street in London, and the subseqeunt furore led to his arrest by the United Kingdom authorities.Currently, India is making all-out efforts to get the uncle-nephew extradited from Antigua & Barbados, and UK to face the laws here. Chartered Accountant For consultng. Contact Us: http://bit.ly/bombay-ca