The Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on Saturday, granted bail to Jignesh Shah, founder of Financial Technologies India Ltd (FTIL).
The Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on Saturday, granted bail to Jignesh Shah, founder of Financial Technologies India Ltd (FTIL). According to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Shah, promoter of National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL), was accused of laundering ill-gotten wealth he made by duping NSEL investors of Rs 5,600 crore by buying private property.
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Shah was arrested on July 12 for not cooperating with the ED during the investigation. This was Shah's second arrest in connection with the NSEL fraud. He was earlier arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in May 2014 and was later granted bail by High Court.
Jignesh came under the scanner of EOW and other agencies in 2013 when NSEL, part of FTIL, faced a payment crisis as nearly 18,000 of its investors allegedly lost millions.
The scam first came to light in July 2013 after NSEL failed to pay its 13,000 investors, following which they lost nearly R5,600 crore. Thousands of investors were lured into trading on NSEL with the promise of returns of between 15%-18% a year. Operating smoothly in the initial stages, payment cycles were changed by promoters, who used the money to buy properties across India.