NSEL scam: Police starts attachment of borrowers' properties

The Mumbai Police, probing the Rs 5,600-crore (Rs 56 billion) scam at the National Spot Exchange has  initiated the process of attaching about 25 immovable assets of the borrowers and has shortlisted nearly 100 properties of all the accused in the case, a senior police official said.

Around twenty-five immovable assets of borrowing companies spread across the country will be attached in the first phase, said an officer at the Economic Offence Wing of Mumbai Police.

The officer said the value of the 100 shortlisted properties was sufficient to recover Rs 5,600 crore, which the crippled exchange promoted by the Financial Technologies group of Jignesh Shah, owes to over 13,000 investors and 148 members/brokers.

The EOW has invoked the `Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act' in the case, which empowers them to attach immovable assets of the accused.

The investigators will later start the process of attaching the properties of promoters, directors and others. The probe so far has also suggested that money has been routed outside the country by some companies and this is a clear case of money laundering, the officer said.

Some of the largest borrowers of NSEL include Mohan India, NK Proteins, Laxmi Group, MSR Food Processing and Swastik Group.

An FIR was registered in the case on September 30 by the EOW against top NSEL executives (including Jignesh Shah and Joseph Massey). They have been charged with cheating, forgery, breach of trust and criminal conspiracy, etc.

The police have arrested four persons so far – Anjani Sinha, former CEO of NSEL; Nilesh Patel, managing director of NK Proteins; Amit Mukherjee, a former AVP of the exchange and Jay Bahukhundi, another ex-AVP of NSEL.