ED to file charge sheet against Mehul Choksi’s son, declare him fugitive

NEw new delhi: The Enforcement board of directors (ED) has decided to register a bill sheet of paper against Rohan Choksi, son of fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi, and also declare him as a fugitive economic offender (FEO), weeks after it claimed that the son was “actively” involved in the offence of money laundering in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud, people familiar with the development said.The agency will also seek to declare Mehul Choksi’s wife, Priti Choksi, a fugitive economic offender, they said.“There is clear evidence which reveals that Mehul Choksi rebranded his Gitanjali group’s business in the US in the name of Voyager Brands and gave Rohan Choksi control of it. Besides, he transferred properties in his name in India, as well as abroad. It’s time we take legal action against Rohan Choksi. Therefore, it has been decided to file a charge sheet against him and also approach the court to declare him a FEO,” said an officer, who asked not to be named.This is the first time any formal legal action will be taken against Rohan Choksi, who is believed to be based in the US. Priti Choksi was named as accused in a charge sheet in 2022. She lives in Belgium after she fled there from Antigua and Barbuda along with her husband. Mehul Choksi is currently lodged in a prison in Antwerp after being arrested on April 11 last year based on an extradition request by CBI.Commenting on Mehul Choksi’s alleged illegal activities in the US, which also implicate Rohan Choksi according to the agency, a second ED officer said : “A February 2019 report of a US Bankruptcy Court appointed examiner John J Carney reveals that Texas based Samuels Jewelers Inc and a series of puppet (shell) vendors was used by Mehul Choksi and other co-conspirators to create the false appearance that Samuels was purchasing and/or selling jewellery to and from unrelated third parties”.“In fact, Samuels and related entities – were secretly selling inventory and laundering money themselves at the directions of Mehul Choksi and individuals under his control,” this officer added, asking not to be named.There were total transactions worth $121 million in the form of purchases and sales from Samuels, according to the officer. He added that “the primary goal of this was to fraudulently induce Samuels’ primary lenders – Wells Fargo and Gordon Brothers - to authorize tens of millions of dollars of credit in advances which were ultimately funneled outside the US to Choksi controlled entities in India, Dubai and Hong Kong”.The Enforcement Directorate (ED) recorded the statement of Curtis Alan Lowrey, a US national who previously co-owned M/s Independent Gemological Laboratories Inc, which Mehul Choksi later bought. Lowrey said that when he once asked why lab grown diamonds were not declared as such and were being sold as natural diamonds, Mehul Choksi called him and directed him not to discuss such matters with anyone except him, according to the first official.The former CEO of Samuels Farhad K Wadia also sent a “sworn affidavit and statement” to ED by post, in which he claimed that Mehul Choksi asked him to rebrand the whole business of Gitanjali in the US under the name of Voyager Brands and told him that his son – Rohan Choksi – “is the ultimate boss of the group business in the United States”.According to Wadia’s statement to ED, Choksi’s sister Neena Seth, daughter-in-law Snagda Talera and son Rohan Choksi used to manage the Voyager Bbusiness in Austin and both Rohan and Snagda worked as his “eyes and ears”.Last month, the agency claimed before an appellate tribunal for forfeited property (ATFP) in Delhi that Mehul Choksi transferred a property in Mumbai in 2013 in Rohan’s name in a “calculated move”, anticipating the attachment of properties in his own name.The agency added that “all the facts and evidence on record clearly points towards the direction that Rohan Choksi was also actively involved along with his father Mehul Choksi for commission of offence of money laundering, after the commission of predicate offence”.