Media firm Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd (BCCL), which runs The Times of India and The Economic Times invested in companies of scam-hit Mehul Choksi-promoted Gitanjali Group, reported The Indian Express, citing documents accessed by it. The report also said that another media major, HT Media Ltd, which runs The Hindustan Times and Mint, was in talks to invest in Gitanjali Gems Ltd.
Three firms of the Gitanjali group have been under the scanner of probe agencies in connection with the Punjab National Bank transactions fraud allegedly involving Rs 11,400 crore.
According to the Express report, BCCL has been allotted five convertible warrants of Rs 32.5 crore in each of the two subsidiaries of Gitanjali Gems Ltd, Nakshatra Brands Ltd and Gili India Ltd, according to board resolutions of these firms of August 2017 and October 2017 respectively.
The Gitjanjali firm had received approval from HT Media’s shareholders to allot debentures to the media firm on December 1, 2017, according to a filing with the BSE Ltd. Gitanjali Gems Ltd had received approval from members of the company to allot ten fully convertible debentures (FCDs) worth Rs 30.67 crore to HT Media, according to a special resolution of the company on December 1, 2017, said the report.
However, Piyush Gupta, chief financial officer of HT Media, told the newspaper that the company did not invest in Gitanjali Gems although it had “evaluated” and “regulatory filings were done” for the allotment.
A response from BCCL is still awaited.
The report has come at a time there have been discussions about Choksi and Nirav Modi’s high-profile links in the business and political circles.
The CBI on January 31 booked Choksi, diamantaire Nirav Modi and his wife Ami and brother Nishal after receiving a complaint from the Punjab National Bank.
The Enforcement Directorate today said it has frozen mutual funds and shares worth Rs 94.52 crore of the Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi groups . It has seized nine high-end luxury cars of Modi as part of its investigation against him under the criminal provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).