The special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on Wednesday sent industrialist Jignesh Shah, arrested on Tuesday in connection with the Rs. 5,600-crore National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) scam, to the Enforcement Directorate’s custody till July 18.
Over 13,000 investors have allegedly lost money due to alleged malpractices by the directors and promoters of NSEL. Shah is the founder and former chairman of Financial Technologies (India) Ltd. (FTIL), which holds 99.99 per cent stake in NSEL.
The agency’s remand application reads, “The investigations carried out by the ED reveal new facts and evidences indicating a nexus and conspiracy between the defaulters and NSEL, IBMA and NBHC. These companies are subsidiaries of FTIL. This indicates primary involvement of Shah as the mastermind and ultimate controller of these companies. Funds have been siphoned off from the NSEL platform and illegal gains accrued to such entities at the cost of the investors. It appears that Shah has used the subsidiary companies for bogus traders and money laundering.” Shah was arrested by the Mumbai Police in May 2014, and was granted bail on a personal bond of Rs. 5 lakh in August.
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