Mehta Fails to Halt British Court Case
February 21, 23
(IDEX Online) - Fugitive Indian diamond merchant Jatin Mehta has failed in a bid to halt legal proceedings against him in a British court over allegations that he defrauded lenders out of $1bn.
Mehta (pictured) had sought to have the case heard in India instead. He and his family were found to be living in London last year.
He is accused of defrauding15 lenders out of the $1bn lent to his companies Winsome Diamonds and Jewellery Ltd and Forever Precious Diamonds & Jewellery Ltd in 2013 and of then laundering the money through a series of shell companies to fund his lab grown diamond business. He denies all accusations.
The high court in London imposed a worldwide freezing order (WFO) on Mehta's family assets of $932m. He later challenged the WFO but failed to persuade the court to lift it.
Neither Grant Thornton nor Standard Chartered provided a comment when approached by Bloomberg.