Congress: Nirav and Choksi have duped middleclass

New Delhi: The Congress on Friday attacked the NDA government for not acting on complaints against accused jeweller Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi. The party alleged that Nirav and Choksi has not only siphoned off crores of rupees from India’s banks, but have also duped India’s middle class and common people of Rs 5,000 crore or more by floating various schemes. Congress spokesperson Mr Shaktisinh Gohil said “Jan Dhan Loot Yojna has unravelled where Gitanjali Gems promoters floated jewellery investment schemes like Shagun, ‘Swarna Mangal Labh’ (SML) and ‘Swarna Mangal Kalash’ (SMK) taking an estimated `5,000 crore of public money. A complicit Modi Government has even refused to publicly acknowledge this loot and duping of common man’s money  ‘Jan Dhan Loot’.”

He said under these schemes, people seeking to buy jewellery were given an attractive option to earn a return on investment.

People needed to pay 11 instalments, while the Gitanjali Group promised to pay the 12th as free. Tenures of these instalments ranged from 12, 24, or 36 months. At the end of this tenure, the accumulated money could be redeemed for jewellery with the added bonus of up to 50 per cent. A large number of police complaints were filed in Gujarat by way of affidavits in September 2015. The Congress released some of these affidavits but alleged no action was taken by the authorities.

The Congress leader further alleged that despite these complaints against the Gujarat government under Mr. Vijay Rupani projected Gitanjali Group as a “collaborator” for the 2017 Vibrant Gujarat summit of 2017, which was held between January 10 to 13, 2017. The Congress furnished evidence of this. Mr. Gohil charged that Mehul Choksi and Gitanjali Group showcased creation by BJP leader in August 2015 in Mumbai and the show was presided over relatives of senior BJP functionaries. The Congress is also planning to raise the issue in the upcoming parliament session.