Ex-MD of Gitanjali, franchise owners lash out at Mehul Choksi

More skeletons are tumbling out of the closet since the Rs 11,400 crore scam of Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, owner of Gitanjali Gems, came to light earlier this week. Several people have come forward against Choksi, accusing him of duping them of crores of rupees. The victims are enraged at the police for not heeding to their pleas and warnings about the owner of the listed company. Even former employees have been at the receiving end of Choksi’s scam. Santosh Srivastav, 46, former MD of Gitanjali Gems said he worked with Gitanjali from 2009 to 2013 but is yet to be paid the salary of Rs 3.19 crore.

“He has not paid salaries to several employees. Whenever I drew attention to illegal activities in the company, Choksi pleaded ignorance and avoided the issues. Hence, I resigned. I am even a government witness in one of the cases filed against him in Gujarat. Incidentally, I too have been dragged into it as an accused,” Srivastav said. Bhavnagar-based jeweller Digvijaysinh Jadeja, 52, has also filed a case against Choksi. Though Santosh Srivastav gave a statement against Choksi under CrPC Section 164, the FIR filed by Jadeja got quashed in the court.

“I had sought court’s intervention in impounding his passport. Had my plea been heard, Choksi would not have been able to escape from India,” Jadeja told Mirror. Vaibhav Khurania, 29, a New Delhi resident and businessman, told Mirror, “In July 2013 I and my partner met Choksi and agreed to set up a franchise of Gitanjali Gems. We invested Rs 1.5 crore with him. The store opened in October and Choksi sent us jewellery claiming it was worth Rs 3 crore. Actually, its cost was only Rs 30 lakh. When business didn’t fare well we shut the store in March 2014. Choksi kept stalling request to return our money. It was only after court’s intervention that Amar Colony police station filed an FIR against Choksi. He, however, got a stay order against it and matter has not moved since then.”


Another Jodhpur-based ex-franchise owner of Gitanjali Gems said he entered into an agreement with Choksi in 2011only to exit in 2014 after learning about unscrupulous means used by Choksi in conducting his business. Owner of Jain Jewellers S K Jain, 66, said Choksi duped him of Rs 1.8 crore and several attempts to recover the money proved futile as even the police did not help citing the issue as a civil matter. “Choksi had formed an elaborate plan to cheat franchise owners. He is now sitting abroad just like other frauds like Vijay Mallya and Lalit Modi. Gitanjali Gems’ franchise owners like me have lost the money forever,” Jain told Mirror.

Amit Kumar, 40, a resident of Mysore and owner of Kalash D-Gold Jewellers, is also waging a legal war with Choksi to retrieve the money he was cheated of. Amit had entered into a three-year contract with Choksi in 2011 by paying Rs 5 crore. Realising that the deal was not worth it, when Amit sought his money back Choksi wrote him cheques. One the cheques for Rs 1crore bounced after which Amit filed a case against Choksi under Section 138 (dishonour of cheque). “I am still fighting the case. Now that Choksi has fled, I don’t see a positive outcome,” he told Mirror.