Jignesh Shah not involved, claims NSEL MD post sting

MUMBAI: Jignesh Shah is not involved in any matter related to NSEL and all recovery efforts of the bourse are managed by its revamped board of directors, said Prakash Chaturvedi, joint MD, NSEL, at a press conference on Tuesday.

He was reacting to a police complaint filed by NSEL Aggrieved And Recovery Association (Naara) — an NSEL broker-investor forum — against him and Jignesh Shah for allegedly influencing a key witness in the case, and demanding the re-arrest of Shah, who is out on bail.

“I work in the interests of trading clients who have to receive money-….if trading clients distort conversation done in their interest just to exert pressure on the management, company and government agencies to take action against the management of NSEL….then they are delaying the recovery work which will affect them,” said Chaturvedi.

The said witness, Kirit V Sheth, recorded a recent phone conversation with Chaturvedi, in which the latter is heard persuading Sheth to seek recovery of monies lost on NSEL from brokers, according to Naara’s complaint on Monday with Mumbai police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW), which is probing the Rs 5,600 crore NSEL scam. The complaint said that Chaturvedi further instructs Sheth to communicate a statement to a newspaper implicating brokers, showing that the new board of directors of NSEL “are fully complicit with the erstwhile directors including Jignesh Shah, currently on bail.” ET in its April 14 edition ran a report on the complaint against Shah and Chaturvedi based on Sheth’s sting.

“Making allegations against Jignesh Shah in this matter is highly motivated and is with a view to divert attention from investigations against the brokers.”