PNB scam: Mehul Choksi's Gitanjali Gems to shut down, asks employees to take relieving letters

Gitanjali Gems, the jewellery retailer led by Nirav Modi's uncle Mehul Choksi, asked its employees to take relieving letters Tuesday.

It is set to close down days after Punjab National Bank, India's second largest state lender, uncovered a fraud which allegedly involves at least three firms controlled by Modi, a billionaire jeweller, and others by Choksi (including Gitanjali Gems).

Both Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi have left the country.

In a regulatory filing, Gitanjali Gems has denied Choksi's involvement in the alleged fraud. Modi's lawyer, too, denies the allegations against him.

Extradition has only been possible in cases that are seen as crimes in both the countries in question. It hasn't been easy to extradite financial fraudsters in the past too.
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In a regulatory filing, Gitanjali Gems has denied Choksi's involvement in the alleged fraud. Modi's lawyer, too, denies the allegations against him.

"All allegations (against Modi) are wrong," said Vijay Aggarwal, Nirav Modi's defense lawyer.

The PNB case against his client, the lawyer claimed, would eventually fall flat during the trial.

"Nobody is looking at it rationally. This is what happens in all the cases. That happened in the Bofors case, that happened in the 2G case and it happened in some of the coal cases. And this is going to happen in this case also. Nobody has looked at it rationally," Aggarwal said.

"How much does it take for a diamond merchant to convert it (assets) into diamonds and take them away? He would have closed everything, converted them into diamonds and run away."

In a letter to PNB, Nirav Modi said the bank has jeopardized its chances of recovering sums owed by going public with its allegations.

(Inputs from Sahil Joshi and Reuters)

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