CBI applies for non-bailable warrant against Choksi in ₹55 cr bank fraud case
The special court, however, transferred the case and CBI’s plea for a NBW against Choksi to the Esplanade metropolitan magistrate court after noticing that the charge sheet filed by police did not name any public servant
MUMBAI: Close on the heels of fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi being arrested in Belgium, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday approached a special CBI court in Mumbai for issuance of a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against him.
The special court, however, transferred the case and CBI’s plea for a NBW against Choksi to the Esplanade metropolitan magistrate court after noticing that the charge sheet filed by police did not name any public servant or press charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
“In view of the fact that charge sheet is filed only against private persons and the offences under section 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code being exclusively triable by a metropolitan magistrate in Mumbai, the special court will have no jurisdiction to pass order, or process, try, entertain or dispose of the case,” the special court said while transferring the case and the CBI plea to the magistrate court.
The special court directed the magistrate court to decide on CBI’s plea for a non-bailable warrant against Choksi immediately, after receiving the necessary case papers.
The case emanates from a first information report (FIR) registered by the CBI in July 2022, based on a complaint by the chief general manager of Canara Bank. According to the FIR, Bezel Jewellery (India) Private Limited and its directors – Choksi, Chetna Jayantilal Jhaveri, Dinesh Gopaldas Bhatia and Milind Anant Limaye – along with unknown public servants had duped Canara Bank and the Bank of Maharashtra of ₹55.27 crore by entering into fraudulent transactions, defaulting on payment obligations and siphoning off funds.
According to the CBI, Canara Bank and the Bank of Maharashtra had, under a consortium arrangement, sanctioned working capital limits of ₹30 crore and ₹25 crore, respectively, to Choksi’s Bezel Jewellery. Though the credit facility was extended for manufacturing and sale of gold and diamond studded jewellery, the company had diverted the funds to repay its long-term borrowings.
Bezel Jewellery had diverted the entire foreign remittance received against the export of jewellery to reduce over-drawings in the cash credit account of Gitanjali Gems Pvt Ltd, another firm owned by Choksi. The firm had not routed any business transactions through the Canara Bank account, even though the loan was granted for the manufacture and sale of gold and diamond jewellery, the charge sheet noted.
Choksi is also the prime accused in a ₹13,850-crore loan fraud at the state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB). He had fled to Antigua and Barbuda last year and had been living in Belgium since. He was arrested by authorities in Antwerp on Saturday based on a formal request from the Indian government.
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