Choksi threatened to entangle me in fraud case: Former Gitanjali Gems employee

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India] February 19 (ANI): A former employee of Mehul Choksi, the managing director of Gitanjali Gems, on Monday said the company pressured him to fabricate fraudulent accounting book, and on resisting he was threatened to be entangled in a fraud case.

Speaking to ANI, Santosh Srivastava said, "In the year of 2012-13, I was working as a head of account. I scanned few discrepancies in the account book. They pressured me to fabricate fraudulent accounting book. When I talked about these issues to Mehul Choksi, he suggested to concentrate on work and to not make much fuss. It was like killing my conscience. I decided to complain in 2013 and he tried to lure me with hefty amount and then he threatened to entangle me in a fraud case".

He added that as a whistle blower, they were writing to several authorities such as, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Ministry of Corporate Affairs and others.

"I was de-motivated, as being a whistle blower I was willing to cooperate but I was not carrying sufficient pertinent documents backing my case. My role was restricted since I am not in the company. It was difficult to continue in the job amidst such crisis," Srivastava stated.

Earlier in the day, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court demanding a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe in the ongoing Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud.

PNB detected the scam last week, wherein noted jewellery designer Nirav Modi acquired fraudulent letters of undertaking from one of its branches for overseas credit from other Indian lenders.

The state-owned lender lodged two financial fraud complaints of Rs. 11400 crore and Rs 280 crore against Nirav Modi, his family members and Mehul Choksi, owner of Gitanjali Gems.

Furthermore, the CBI sealed the bank's MCB Brady House branch in Mumbai earlier today as part of the ongoing investigation.

Raids are also being carried out presently by the Enforcement Directorate in a Gitanjali Gems outlet in Pune's Pacific Mall, a Nakshatra showroom in Kolkata's Salt Lake area and other locations.

On a related note, Advocate Vijay Aggarwal who had represented a number of 'high-profile' accused persons in the 2G spectrum case will be the lawyer for accused jeweller Nirav Modi. (ANI)