Winsome Diamonds and Jewellery Ltd promoter Jatin Mehta, who owes around Rs 6,800 crore to a consortium of banks, has taken up citizenship in the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis along with his wife, reported The Indian Express. Jatin and Sonia Mehta gave up their Indian citizenship in 2013-'14. India does not have an extradition policy with the dual-island Caribbean nation, which offers citizenship to foreign nationals in exchange for investment in the country. The Mehtas live in Dubai right now.
The Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate are investigating the case against the company, the second largest loan defaulter in the country. On Tuesday, the investigating agencies attached properties worth Rs 172 crore that belong to the company. In October 2013, the Standard Chartered Bank-led consortium classified the company as a “wilful defaulter”.
Mehta has said that foreign distributors of his company had suffered losses and defaulted on payment, owing to which the diamond and jewellery manufacturing company cannot pay its dues to the banks.
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