Mehul Choksi Cheated Punjab & Sind Bank of Rs 44 Crores: Report

Absconding diamantaire, Mehul Choksi.

(Photo: The Quint)

Mehul Chinubhai Choksi, the abscoding diamantaire cheated the public sector Punjab & Sindh (PSB) of around Rs 44 crores, the bank said on Saturday, 12 October.

The New Delhi-based PSB has issued notices proclaiming Choksi as a “willful defaulter” who owes the bank the amount for which it has initiated recovery proceedings against him.

This is the first time the 111-year-old bank has clarified on the default perpetrated by Choksi, who has now settled as a citizen of Antigua and Barbados, West Indies.

PSB stated that Choksi's company, Gitanjali Gems Limited, including its merged entity Gitanjali Exports Limited, had availed the loan from them.

After being declared a "willful defaulter," Choksi has joined the bank's band of 27 other defaulters from different fields, mainly based in New Delhi, Punjab, Chandigarh, Lucknow, etc. against whom it has filed recovery suits.

Maharashtra Convenor Vishwas Utagi, former and Trade Unions Joint Action Committee (TUJAC) told IANS, "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?"

Utagi, however, expressed concerns over other questions like what action has been taken against the departments and officers dealing in Foreign Exchange in Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and how much of the outstandings from the likes of Nirav Modi, Choksi and others have been recovered so far.

He has also demanded a 'forensic audit' into all the accounts in all Indian banks held by the realty, gems and jewelry sectors.

Earlier, the State Bank of India (SBI) had revealed that huge Rs 405 crores loan from Choksi and his family members.

(With inputs from IANS)