Nilesh Parekh case: ED probing 'activities' of jewellery firm
Kolkata: In a bid to ascertain the money trail in connection with the Nilesh Parekh case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing the "activities" of his jewellery firm with the "dummy and shell companies at Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai".
On Friday, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) arrested Nilesh Parekh, promotor of Shree Ganesh Jewellery House Limited, from Kolkata on charges of fraud in diversion of over 1,700 kg of primary gold and non-realisation of remittance on account of export of gems and jewelleries to the tune of Rs 7,500 crore. He was also remanded in judicial custody for eight days in this connection when produced before the court on Friday.
With business activities between the jewellery firm that has several units at Manikanchan Special Economic Zone in Kolkata and the shell companies abroad has come to light, the ED had initiated a probe under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) and Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The firm has also failed to realise export proceeds of Rs 7,450 crore to the shell companies mainly in Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai.
Now, to ascertain the money trail completely, the ED is working to get further details of the jewellery firms and the documents that show the firm's annual turnover as well as transaction details. This comes when there was allegation against the firm of non-payment of loan to the tune of Rs 2,672 crore to a State Bank of India-led consortium. It may be mentioned that Parekh was arrested by the CBI in this connection in 2017 and was later released on bail.
As the investigation of the DRI has revealed Parekh's involvement in the fraud of diversion of more than 1700 kg primary gold, the ED and other agencies probing the case are trying to dig further deep to ascertain all the dealings of the company for the past few years. As Parekh's firm was involved in diversion of gold imported duty-free and also enjoyed the benefits as an unit in the SEZ, the investigating agencies are also looking into its role as a nominated agency to import primary gold.
