The market regulator SEBI has frozen the bank accounts, shares, and mutual fund investments of Mehul Choksi, a wanted diamond businessman. This is to recover ₹2.1 crore that he owes for breaking insider trading rules related to the shares of Gitanjali Gems.
SEBI had sent Choksi a warning notice on May 15, asking him to pay the amount within 15 days. When he didn’t pay, SEBI took action to freeze his accounts and assets.
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Choksi was fined ₹1.5 crore by SEBI in January 2022 for insider trading in Gitanjali Gems shares. Along with interest, the total amount due is ₹2.1 crore. SEBI has told banks, stock depositories, and mutual fund companies not to allow any withdrawals from his accounts, but deposits are still allowed. They have also asked banks to freeze all his accounts and lockers.
SEBI believes that Choksi might try to move or hide his money, so they took these steps to stop that.
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Mehul Choksi was the chairman and managing director of Gitanjali Gems and is related to Nirav Modi. Both Choksi and Modi are accused of cheating Punjab National Bank (PNB) of over ₹14,000 crore in a big scam. They both left India after the scam came to light in 2018.
Choksi was caught in Belgium in April after India asked for his extradition. Before that, he was living in Antigua. Modi was arrested in London in 2019 and is currently in jail there.
In 2017, SEBI found that Choksi
