PRESS RELEASE Statement Issued by Shri Randeep Singh Surjewala, In-Charge, Communications, AICC Modi Govt's 'Shameful Secre
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PRESS RELEASE 3 December, 2018 Statement Issued by Shri Randeep Singh Surjewala, In-Charge, Communications, AICC Modi Govt’s ‘Shameful Secret of Saving Scamsters’ is now ‘Out in the Open’! Modi Govt’s Complicity + Connivance = ‘Great Escape of Nirav Modi + Mehul Choksi’ 'चक ग ग' - ' क क क' ! Inactions of Top echelons of Modi Govt – PM Shri Narendra Modi & FM Shri Arun Jaitley, despite being well aware about the ‘dirty dealings’, ‘dubious loans’, ‘hush money’, ‘undeclared accounts’& ‘fuzzy loans to relatives’ of fraudsters Nirav Modi & Mehl Choksi in the Rs.26,306 Cr PNB Bank Loot Scam for more than 8 months provided the fugitives a ‘free pass to ‘flee India’ ! Fresh skeletons comprising of a 10000 page- ‘Income Tax Report’ have tumbled out from the dirty-dingy-dusty ‘Cupboard of Corruption’ of Modi Sarkar ! A ‘Corruption Tsunami’ has unleashed in the first 44 months i.e. upto January, 2018 of that Modi Govt where the country has witnessed 19,000 ‘Bank Fraud Cases’ involving Rs.90,000 Crores. 23 fraudsters have escaped India under their watch after duping the country by over Rs.53,000 Crores. Successive escapes of Vijay Mallya, Lalit Modi, Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and others reflect that Modi Govt is not a guardian of ‘Public Money’ but a ‘Travel Agency’ facilitating ‘Fraud, Fleece & Fly to Foreign Shores’ of willful bank defaulters. A 10,000 page ‘Income Tax Probe Report’ on PM Modi’s ‘ ई – Mehul Choksi & छ - Nirav Modi was finalised by the agency on June 8, 2017. It was not shared with the Finance Ministry’s Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) until February 2018 - who were well aware of the Massive Scam since January 2015, itself. 1. This is the plain & simple reason why the Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) , Shri Sushil Chandra was given two extensions by the Modi Govt ( first in June 2017 & then in May 2018) Shri Chandra, who was the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax in Ahmedabad and was heading the Gujarat region was first appointed as a member of CBDT in December 2015 by the Modi Govt. 2. Last month, BJP National Executive Member & Rajya Sabha MP, Shri Subramanian Swamy in a series of scornful tweets sought action against Shri Hasmukh Adhia, recently appointed as the Finance & Revenue Secretary of the Modi Govt for his alleged role in the PNB Scam. 3. In September, the Congress party had exposed how Finance Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley’s daughter Ms Sonali Jaitley and son-in-law, Mr Jaiyesh Bakhshi proceeded to accept a retainership from Mehul Choksi’s fraudster company, Gitanjali Gems Ltd. in December 2017. A sum of Rs.24,00,000 (Twenty Four Lakh) was also received by Sonali Jaitley and Jaiyesh’s, Jaitley & Associates. After Nirav Modi & Mehul Choksi ran way, they quietly redeposited same amount of Rs.24,00,000 in ICICI Bank, Bandra (Mumbai) A/cs of Gitanjali Gems Ltd. The ‘Income Tax Report’ reveals scathing details, how:- (i) Nirav Modi’s Firestar International Pvt Ltd received Rs 284.14Cr from a Cyprus-based ‘Jade Bridge Holdings Pvt Ltd’ and a Mauritius firm ‘Forcom Worldwide Investment Ltd’ in 2013-14. Firestar also received Rs 271Cr from another Singapore-based firm ‘Islington International Holdings Pvt Ltd’, owned by his sister Purvi Mehta. The Income Tax report says that the documents claimed to be submitted by Jade Bridge and Forcom were prepared at Nirav Modi’s office in India itself and the source of these funds “remain suspicious”. (ii) Physical stock lying at Modi’s firms in the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Surat were hugely over- valued. For instance, the over-valuation of diamonds and gems by Modi’s SEZ units for financial year 2016- 17 was to the tune of Rs 1,216.30 Cr (iii)Modi’s firms gave “huge amount of interest free loans and advances to group firms” when the concerns giving loans and advances had themselves taken “huge bank loans”. For instance, Diamond ‘R’ US gave an interest-free loan of Rs 528 Cr to NDM Family Trust even as the trust held only 0.5 per cent shares in the firm. (iv) The top two creditors of Choksi-owned Gitanjali Group — Iris Mercantile and Premier Intertrade — were a part of Gitanjali Group till financial year 2014-15. Subsequently, the partnership composition of these firms changed and new partners were brought on board. The IT found that the firms did not exist at their registered address. (v) The Nirav Modi Group and Gitanjali Group made “bogus purchases” of Rs 344.4 Cr and Rs 2021 Cr respectively from three accommodation entry firms in Mumbai. (vi) The Nirav Modi Group did not report international transactions of Rs 515.87 Cr entered with its associates. (vii) Gitanjali Gems Ltd made several “suspicious” payments to relatives or family members of its top management in financial year 2016-17. ‘Loot’ and make them ‘Scoot’ is the prime policy of the Narendra Modi Govt. Shocking details reveal how Modi Govt enacted this mega scam:- (i) Mehul Choksi & Nirav Modi, through their companies Gitanjali Gems Ltd. and others, have committed a fraud/willful bank loan default of Rs.21,306 Crore (Rs.11,400 Cr of PNB through 293 LoUs + Rs.9,906 Cr loan exposure of 30 banks). In addition, Gitanjali Gems Ltd. had floated 3 jewelry investment schemes, which have duped India’s middle class & common investors of Rs.5,000 Crore approx as per complaints submitted in Sept. 2015 in Gujarat. The total fraud is, thus, Rs.26,306 Cr. (ii) These frauds/willful defaults were exposed in January, 2015 itself. Prime Minister’s Office, Finance & Corporate Affairs Ministry, ED, SFIO, SEBI, BJP Govts of Maharashtra and Gujarat were all aware of the scam, yet no action was taken. (iii) On 23rd January 2015, FIR was lodged in Police Station Gandhinagar, Gujarat by Digvijay Singh Jadeja against Mehul Choksi, Gitanjali Gems Ltd. and others for cheating, fraud, forgery of documents etc. Copies of Gujarati & English version are A1. (iv) On 7th May 2015, Shri Vaibhav Khurania lodged a complaint with Ministry of Corporate Affairs/PMO/ED/SFIO against Mehul Choksi and Gitanjali Gems Ltd. pointing out ponzy schemes and bank frauds, including with PNB/Allahabad Bank/ ICICI/Corporation Bank/Andhra Bank/Bank of Baroda/Bank of India etc. In para-14, it was clearly mentioned that Mehul Choksi had shifted his family abroad and is diverting money in order to run away from India by defrauding everyone. Copy is A2. Copy of the courier receipt and PMO’s acknowledgement are A3. A similar complaint was filed to Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mumbai (A4) as also to SEBI on 3rd May 2017 (A5). The fact that Mehul Choksi was likely to escape was also stated on an affidavit dated 20.07.2016 (A5.1) by Digvijay Singh Jadeja in Gujarat High Court in case titled ‘Mehul Choksi vs State of Gujarat’, but no action was taken. (v) On 26th July 2016, Shri Hari Prasad had filed a complaint to PMO and Ministry of Corporate Affairs against Mehul Choksi & Gitanjali Gems Ltd. regarding bank fraud with 31 Banks & gullible investors. Copy of PMO’s acknowledgment is A6. (vi) All these complaints were admittedly referred by PMO to Finance Ministry in the year 2016 itself, yet no action was taken for over 2 years uptill Jan. 2018, helping them escape India. Please see Parliamentary Reply of Finance Ministry A7. (vii) On Ist Jan. 2018, Nirav Modi escaped India. On 4th Jan. 2018, Mehul Choksi escaped India. On 6th Jan. 2018, Ms Ami Nirav Modi & Nishal Modi escaped India.On 31st Jan. 2018, CBI lodged FIR against Mehul Choksi & others for bank frauds. A 2nd FIR was lodged by CBI and against Mehul Choksi on 15th Feb. 2018. ED has recorded evidence that Mehul Choksi was making sale of his all immovable properties since Nov. 2017. (viii) On 20th Feb. 2018, FM’s daughter and son-in-law, Ms Sonali Jaitley & Jaiyesh of ‘Jaitley & Associates’ redeposited Rs.24,00,000 in ICICI Bank, Bandra (Mumbai) A/cs of Gitanjali Gems Ltd. Details are:- A/c No: 12170500316, Narration: RTGS-HDFCRS201802206636330-CHAMBERS OF JAITLEY A. (A8). QUESTIONS:- 1. Why did the Income Tax Department not share its investigative report with the ED, SFIO, CBI & DRI in June 2017 itself, despite the complaints and evidence being available 2 years earlier i.e 7th May, 2015, 26th May, 2015, 20th July, 2016, 26th July, 2016 and 3rd May, 2017 ? Why did the MEA provide ‘clean chit certificate’ to Mehul Choksi in May 2017? Do these deliberate concealments not point out to a direct connivance of the Modi Govt's Finance & External Affairs Ministry in this Bank Loot Saga? 2. What was the role of CBDT Chairman, Shri Sushil Chandra? Why was he given two consecutive extensions? Was it a reward for the ‘cover up’ exercise? 3. Shri Hasmukh Adhia has now become a ‘Blue Eyed Boy’ in the Modi Govt. Why isn’t the Modi Govt taking any action against Shri Adhia, who is in the eye of storm of BJP MP, Shri Subramanian Swamy for his alleged role by this mega PNB Scam & the escape of Mehul Choksi & Nirav Modi ? 4. Why were FM Jaitley, his daughter and son-in-law neither summoned nor questioned by CBI/ED/SFIO? Why were daughter and son-in-law of FM, Arun Jaitley paid Rs.24 lakh by Mehul Choksi’s Gitanjali Gems Ltd. without doing any work, as admitted by them? Who else are the clients of ‘Chambers of Jaitley & Associates’ paying retainership of lakhs of rupees and why should their names be not made public, including amounts received? Is it not a fit case to sack Shri Arun Jaitley and conduct a full independent investigation? 5.