PNB fraud: Warrant issued against Hong Kong-based Jayesh Shah

The order, on Friday, recorded that Shah had been residing in Hong Kong even before registration of the crime. The CBI told the court that it had emailed him on March 3, 2021, and contacted him over the phone, asking him to join the investigation. The judge recorded that Shah “has refused to come to India”

MUMBAI: A special CBI court has issued an open-ended, non-bailable warrant against Jayesh Shah, a Hong Kong-based accused in the ₹13,579-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case involving Mehul Choksi’s Gitanjali Group. The warrant was issued after Shah refused to return to India to join the investigation despite a red corner notice against him. Shah is a partner in Hong Kong-based 4C’s Diamonds Distributors and allegedly managed the firm’s operations.

PNB fraud: Warrant issued against Hong Kong-based Jayesh Shah

The order, on Friday, recorded that Shah had been residing in Hong Kong even before registration of the crime. The CBI told the court that it had emailed him on March 3, 2021, and contacted him over the phone, asking him to join the investigation. The judge recorded that Shah “has refused to come to India”.

The court also noted that a Red Corner Notice had subsequently been issued against Shah. Allowing the CBI’s application for the warrant, Additional Sessions Judge SK Karhale observed, “It shows that the accused is knowingly residing abroad to avoid prosecution.”

Shah was named in a supplementary charge-sheet filed by the CBI in July, along with former PNB internal chief auditor Bishnubrata Mishra, Gitanjali Gems import-export manager Ajit Bheda and its senior vice-president Deepan Shah.

In its July 29 order, the court recorded that the four accused had allegedly conspired with other accused to secure 118 fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) in 2015 on behalf of Gili India and Gitanjali Exports Corporation. The court noted that Gitanjali Exports Corporation did not have a sanctioned credit limit with PNB and was subsequently merged with Gitanjali Gems.

Another 116 fraudulent LoUs were allegedly issued in 2016 for various companies, without recording the transactions in the bank’s core banking system among other violations. The court observed that the accused had allegedly facilitated fraudulent LoUs and amendments to Foreign Letters of Credit (FLCs), resulting in the misutilisation of bank funds.

The wider PNB fraud, pegged at ₹23,000 crore, involved companies linked to Choksi and his nephew, fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi.