The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which is probing diamond merchant Jatin Mehta, the fugitive promoter of
Winsome Diamonds, plans to approach a special CBI court to issue Letters Rogatory (LRs) to
United Arab Emirates and Belgium.
Move is aimed at furnishing details of the 13 ‘buyers’ to whom Mehta had allegedly sold processed gold.
Through LRs, the probe agency wants to ascertain that these buyers were merely fronts created by Mehta and his coaccused, Haytham Salman Abu Ali Obaidah, a Jordan national to divert funds.
LRs are a formal request from a court to a foreign court for judicial assistance. The details provided under Letters Rogatory hold evidential value in the court of law.
“We are seeking details on the companies, their directors, their books of accounts and their transactions specifically to Winsome Diamonds and other shell companies floated by Mehta and his associates to route the funds through layering,” said an official.