Jignesh Shah run- 63 Moons Technologies, the prime accused in the Rs 5,600 crore National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) scam, has siphoned off crores from attached assets breaching Supreme Court order, an investigation by the Maharashtra Government Competent Authority found. Legal experts are of the firm belief this is a clear-cut case of contempt.
The Competent Authority appointed by Government of Maharashtra in the NSEL case in an affidavit filed in the Bombay High Court dated August 14, said that NSEL scam’s main accused 63 Moons Technologies “has made large withdrawals from its bank accounts, closed some accounts, invested certain amounts in fixed deposits, and withdrawn some amounts from the attached fixed deposits.”
The Competent Authority in its affidavit said, “It is pertinent to note that a statement was made on behalf of the respondent before the Honourable Supreme Court on 3/9/2019 that nothing would be done to disturb the status quo as on 3/9/2019, which was to continue until further orders by the Order dated 24/9/2019.”
Also, the attachment notifications were admittedly restored vide Supreme Court’s judgement dated 22/4/2022, and hence the respondent could not have made any modifications to the attached assets redemption, reinvestment and closure, without first seeking the court’s permission.
However, despite this, the respondent has made large withdrawals from its bank accounts, closed some accounts, invested certain amounts in fixed deposits, and withdrawn some amounts from the attached fixed deposits.
After the properties of 63 Moons Technologies were attached by the Government of Maharashtra as per section 4(2) of the MPID Act, they asked the Competent Authority to make the attachments absolute. The Bombay High Court in an order dated July 2, 2024 had directed the competent authority to file an affidavit-in-reply, setting out the status of the attached properties of 63 Moons.
The Bombay High Court in a subsequent order dated July 23, 2024 asked the Collector, Mumbai city to depute two officers to assist the competent authority in the voluminous work of assessing the property attachment of 63 Moons. The competent authority reached out to various banks, mutual fund houses, NSDL, CDSL requesting information about the court attached properties.
The joint investigation found large withdrawals from its bank accounts, closed some accounts, invested certain amounts in fixed deposits, and withdrawn some amounts from the attached fixed deposits. The competent authority has placed the documents revealing misappropriation of funds by 63 Moons in the affidavit.