Wanted in PNB scam, Mehul Choksi tells CBI that it's impossible to return to India
ET Online|
Mar 08, 2018, 02.12 PM IST
Fugitive jeweller Mehul Choksi, accused in the Punjab National Bank scam, said it was "impossible" for him to return to India because his passport has been suspended.
"It is impossible for me to travel back to India. I wish to point out that the Regional Passport Office Mumbai has not given me any explanation as to why my passport has been suspended and as to how I am a security threat to India," Choksi said in a letter to the CBI, which is probing the alleged fraud.
He has said he was travelling "abroad for my business" and had embarked on the journey before the probe agency filed an FIR against him.
Investigators, including the CBI, have sent repeated missives to Choksi and Nirav Modi, asking them to join the probe. A special court has issued non-bailable warrants against them and at least 19 executives of their companies.
Modi, too, has turned down CBI's summons to return to India, telling the agency that he was too busy with his business abroad. The CBI said that Modi has not shared anything with regard to his current location.
CBI had emailed the summons to Modi a few days ago, asking him to appear before it for questioning. Modi wrote back, “I have business to run here. Won’t be able to join.”
The CBI had filed the first FIR in the scam on February 14 against Modi, his wife Ami, brother Nishal, Choksi and his firms Diamond R US, Solar Exports and Stellar Diamond. The agency stated that the fraud involved an amount of around Rs 6,400 crore. Modi, his family and Choksi left the country in early January.
The CBI filed a second FIR on February 15 for Rs 4,886.72-crore fraud against Choksi's Gitanjali Group. To date, 12 persons have been arrested by the CBI in connection with the case. The Enforcement Directorate has claimed to have attached properties worth Rs 6,000 crore.
"It is impossible for me to travel back to India. I wish to point out that the Regional Passport Office Mumbai has not given me any explanation as to why my passport has been suspended and as to how I am a security threat to India," Choksi said in a letter to the CBI, which is probing the alleged fraud.
He has said he was travelling "abroad for my business" and had embarked on the journey before the probe agency filed an FIR against him.
Investigators, including the CBI, have sent repeated missives to Choksi and Nirav Modi, asking them to join the probe. A special court has issued non-bailable warrants against them and at least 19 executives of their companies.
Modi, too, has turned down CBI's summons to return to India, telling the agency that he was too busy with his business abroad. The CBI said that Modi has not shared anything with regard to his current location.
CBI had emailed the summons to Modi a few days ago, asking him to appear before it for questioning. Modi wrote back, “I have business to run here. Won’t be able to join.”
The CBI had filed the first FIR in the scam on February 14 against Modi, his wife Ami, brother Nishal, Choksi and his firms Diamond R US, Solar Exports and Stellar Diamond. The agency stated that the fraud involved an amount of around Rs 6,400 crore. Modi, his family and Choksi left the country in early January.
The CBI filed a second FIR on February 15 for Rs 4,886.72-crore fraud against Choksi's Gitanjali Group. To date, 12 persons have been arrested by the CBI in connection with the case. The Enforcement Directorate has claimed to have attached properties worth Rs 6,000 crore.
