Preeti Kothari, the wife of fugitive jeweller Mehul Choksi, has approached a Mumbai special court seeking the cancellation of a bailable warrant issued against her in connection with the Punjab National Bank (PNB) loan fraud case. The warrant was issued by the court last month after she failed to appear in person despite summons from the court.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had named Preeti Kothari, also known as Priti Pradyotkumar Kothari, as an accused in the supplementary charge sheet filed in June. She was accused of aiding her husband, Mehul Choksi, who is the prime accused in the case, in the “layering of the proceeds of crime.”
In her application, Preeti Kothari stated that she was unaware of the existence of the ongoing legal proceedings against her because she had been a resident of Antigua and Barbuda since 2018. She emphasized that she shifted to Antigua and Barbuda well before the registration of the money laundering case. She further mentioned that Indian authorities were aware of her foreign citizenship and her residence outside India.
The special court has directed the Enforcement Directorate to respond to Preeti Kothari’s application and has adjourned the matter for a hearing on August 25.
The ED’s charge sheet also named Mehul Choksi, his three companies (Gitanjali Gems Ltd, Gili India Ltd, and Nakshatra Brand Ltd), and a retired Punjab National Bank deputy manager (Brady House branch, Mumbai) Gokulnath Shetty. This charge sheet is the third one filed against Mehul Choksi in relation to the PNB loan fraud case. The first two charge sheets were filed in 2018 and 2020.
Mehul Choksi, along with his nephew Nirav Modi and others, was booked by the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2018 for allegedly perpetrating a fraud in the Brady House branch of the Punjab National Bank in Mumbai. The accusations involve fraudulent issuance of Letters of Undertaking (LOUs) and enhancement of foreign letters of credit (FLCs), causing financial losses to the bank.