Key Gitanjali Gems executives put in papers

MUMBAI: A board member, CFO and company secretary have put in their papers from the beleaguered Gitanjali Gems, under the scanner of various security agencies for its alleged role in perpetrating the Rs 11,300-crore PNB fraud. Gitanjali Gems, whose chairman Mehul Choksi is abroad, informed the exchanges on Monday that Krishnan Sangameswaran has resigned from the company board. No reason was assigned for the resignation.

Company CFO, Chandrakant Karkare, said he was resigning “with immediate effect” due to his wife’s recuperation from an intestinal surgery. In a letter dated Feb 15, a day after PNB said it detected the fraud, to Mehul Choksi, Karkare said, “...my wife has recently undergone a major surgery called hemicolectomy at Lilavati Hospital. The post-operation recovery is not up to the expected level. This has resulted in restriction on me carrying responsibilities as CFO, and will be very difficult for me in future… I would like to request you to relinquish me from the responsibilities of CFO.”