PNB scam: Mehul Choksi's wife moves Mumbai court for cancellation of bailable warrant

Preeti Kothari wife of fugitive jeweller Mehul Choksi moved a special court here on Tuesday seeking cancellation of the bailable warrant issued against her in connection with the over Rs 13000crore Punjab National Bank PNB loan fraud caseThe probe agency Enforcement Directorate ED had named Kothari as an accused in the supplementary charge sheet filed last JuneShe has been charged with helping her husband the prime accused in the case in layering of the proceeds of crimeIn the application filed through advocates Vijay Agarwal and Rahul Agarwal Kothari said the court issued bailable warrants against her on August 9 on the ground that she didnt appear in person despite the issuance of summonsKothari claimed she was unaware about the existence of the present legal proceedings on account of the fact that she has been a resident of Antigua and Barbuda since she shifted there in 2018 much prior to the registration of the money laundering caseIt is further stated that the factum of foreign citizenship of the present applicant Kothari and place of residence being outside India was well known to Indian authorities the application statedThe court has directed the ED to file its say and adjourned the matter for hearing to August 25Apart from Choksi and Kothari couple the ED in its charge sheet also named Choksis three companies Gitanjali Gems Ltd Gili India Ltd and Nakshatra Brand Ltd and retired Punjab National Bank deputy manager Brady House branch Mumbai Gokulnath ShettyIt was the third charge sheet against Choksi after the first two were filed in 2018 and 2020 by the EDChoksi his diamantaire nephew Nirav Modi and their family members and employees bank officials and others were booked by the ED and the Central Bureau ofInvestigation CBI in 2018 for perpetrating the alleged fraud in the Brady House branch of the PNB in MumbaiIt is alleged that Choksi his firm Gitanjali Gems and others committed the offence of cheating against Punjab National Bank in connivance with certain bank officials by fraudulently getting the LOUs letters of undertaking issued and got the FLCs foreign letter of credit enhanced without following prescribed procedure and caused a wrongful loss to the bankThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever