Congress raises Winsome case of ‘non-payment of bank loans worth Rs.6,712 crore’

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, in the Hindu, NEW DELHI, MARCH  2018

Winsome Group chairman Jatin Mehta and his wife fled the country, gave up their Indian citizenship on June 2, 2016 and settled down in St. Kitts and Nevis Federation. 

(Note: Loot and scoot has become the order of the day under the Modi government. The BJP alleges that largescale looting was started by Congress in 2011. True congress looted a great deal but Modi won the election in 2014 on the promise to wipe out this corruption and bring back the Indian money looted and stored in foreign banks.

During his four years he has not brought back any. But under his watch from 2014 Big sharks like Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya and others fled the country with huge sums and declared they are not coming back. What the public says is that those who flee the country with huge sums are doing so under the patronage of the government in power. So the BJP government is responsible for those who fled since 2014. 

To the credit of Congress, it should also be said that Chidambarm’s son also reportedly looted but he did not flee the country. He went abroad and came back to face the law of the land unlike Nirav and others. The BJP government is dead silent on it. We can fool people with rhetorical speech some times, somewhere but not all people, everywhere and all times. The electorate, we hope,  are watching to give fitting response to looters. james kottoor, ccv editor).

The Congress on Thursday raised the case of the Winsome Group chairman Jatin Mehta allegedly fleeing the country after non-payment of bank loans worth Rs. 6,712 crore. 

Media in charge of the party Randeep Surjewala said the complaints in Mehta’s case were filed by banks to the CBI also to the Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai Police in February 2014. The annual financial statement of Winsome Diamonds and Jewellery Limited (WDJL) for the financial year 2013-14 filed with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs too recorded these complaints. 

The CBI lodged six FIRs in April 2017. Mehta and his wife fled the country, gave up their Indian citizenship on June 2, 2016 and settled down as citizens of the international tax haven St. Kitts and Nevis Federation.

Mr. Surjewala said Mehta imported gold based on letters of credit issued by Indian banks. Jewellery was exported to 13 entities in Dubai, who refused to pay back. 

“Who is Jatin Mehta? Does the protection emanate on account of his close relationship with an industrial house close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi” Mr. Surjewala asked.Mehta’s son is married to the daughter of industrialist Gautam Adani’s elder brother. 

'Why did the government not issue red corner notice?'

St Kitts has an Interpol office but still the government did not issue a red corner notice, said Mr. Surjewala. “How could the Home Ministry permit the renunciation of citizenship in the absence of appropriate police verification in view of pendancy of complaints with the CBI/ED [Enforcement Directorate] and other agencies, as also the declaration of loans of all his companies as non-performing assets?” 

Mr. Surjewala said businessmen close to the BJP government were perfecting the “art of leaving”. “Modi [Nirav], Mehul [Choksi] and Mehta [Jatin] scammed and scrammed under the Modi government’s watch. Though the Congress flagged up bank frauds, it did not support the privatisation of national banks, he said.