Vinod Adani's relative Jatin Mehta behind shell firms that pumped Rs 20,000 cr into Adani, claims Congress

The Congress on Wednesday accused the government of not making any effort to bring back fugitive diamantaire Jatin Mehta due to his alleged link with Gautam Adani, founder and chairman of Adani Group. Jatin Mehta is the owner of Winsome Diamonds, Forever Precious Jewellery And Diamonds and Su-Raj Diamonds. His son Suraj Mehta is married to Krupa Adani, the daughter of Gautam Adani's elder brother Vinod Adani.

Congress spokesperson Supriya Srinate on Wednesday said her party had been consistently asking: "Who is the owner of the Rs. 20,000 crore, unaccounted, illicit money that has flown into the Adani Empire?" She then claimed that Monterosa Group companies were allegedly pouring money into those shell companies from where benami money was coming to Adani Group. "This Rs 20,000 crore is benami money, which has come - through shell firms - to Adani. And the ownership rights of these shell firms are with Monterosa Group, which is linked with Jatin Mehta," she claimed.

The Congress leader said Mehta allegedly swindled Rs 7,000 crore of Indian banks (at that exchange rate of a billion dollars) and fled India. "He not just fled the country, he also took citizenship of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Caribbean, and a NOC was issued by the Indian government. No effort is being made to get him back...probe him, no effort, whatsoever is being made to make him face the law and the legal system of this country," she said.

Referring to Monterosa, Srinate said there is a group of companies based out of Mauritius, allegedly the owners of the shell companies that are pumping money into the Adani Group. "Jatin  Mehta has direct links with Monterosa.  In fact, Monterosa’s  Chairman,  and  CEO  served as  Director in three companies alongside Jatin Mehta," she alleged.

The Congress leader claimed that Mehta used exactly the same route that Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi used, "which was to import gold on the basis of letters of credit from Indian banks".

"They made it into jewellery; this jewellery was then exported to Dubai. It's shocking that the 13 companies to which this jewellery was exported in Dubai, were eventually all owned by Jatin Mehta and his family. It was said that those companies refused to make the payments and which is why that money turned into losses. Actually, that money was swindled by Jatin Mehta and family," she claimed.

Srinate also claimed that Monterosa also had links with Chang Chung-Ling. The Congress claims Chang has links with Adani and is a Chinese national, a claim that has been denied by the BJP.

Congress communication in-charge Jairam Ramesh in a tweet on Wednesday said: "Jatin Mehta is closely linked with Chairman& CEO of Monterosa Group-which is known to have invested in Adani's shell companies& has ties with the same Chinese national as Gautam Adani-Chang Chung Ling."