Mehul Choksi would flee like Vijay Mallya, warned Bhavnagar jeweller in 2016

AHMEDABAD: A jeweller from Bhavnagar in Saurashtra, Digvijay Jadeja, had alerted police and the judiciary in July 2016 to the fact that Mehul Choksi — now an accused in the Rs 11,800 crore Punjab National Bank scam — was a fraudster. In fact, Jadeja had stated in an affidavit that Choksi was planning to flee India as Vijay Mallya had done.
Jadeja had filed the affidavit in the Gujarat high court in connection with a criminal case. He had asserted that Choksi was under huge debt and was planning to settle abroad. He had requested the court to stop Choksi from fleeing India.

“I would also like to draw kind attention of this court to the fact that the petitioner has a huge debt of Rs 9,872 crore outstanding, which is also specified in the website of the ministry of corporate affairs,” Jadeja’s affidavit read. “And there are full chances of the petitioner running away like Vijay Mallya, as his wife has an apartment at Burj Khalifa in Dubai and as a result many litigations pending against him can get frustrated.”

Jadeja told TOI on Saturday: “If my statements had been taken into consideration, the situation would have been different. Choksi had started settling his family abroad.” Jadeja is now pursuing cases against Choksi in the Supreme Court as well as in a commercial court in Rajkot, Saurashtra. Jadeja is asking for Rs 93 crore from Choksi for his investment made in Choksi’s firms: Gitanjali Jewellery Retail Ltd and Gitanjali Gems Ltd.

Jadeja and Choksi got into a legal tangle after Jadeja secured a franchise for Choksi’s jewellery business and entered into an agreement for investment. Jadeja paid over Rs 23 crore to Choksi’s company from which 106kg of gold bars were purchased. As the deal went awry, Choksi filed a criminal complaint against Jadeja in Mumbai. Two persons were arrested and Jadeja too was summoned. “After we showed documents, Mumbai police filed a closure report,” Jadeja said.

In January 2015, Jadeja filed a complaint of cheating, misappropriation, and forgery against Choksi with Gujarat’s CID (crime). Choksi moved the high court, which quashed the FIR against him in May last year. Jadeja’s plea to restrain Choksi from leaving India was not granted. This led Jadeja to file an appeal before the apex court, which has admitted the case. Later, Jadeja also filed a suit against Choksi with a Rajkot court for the recovery of Rs 93 crore.