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The city police’s economic offences wing (EoW) is checking if it can attach the demat accounts of Jignesh Shah in the National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) case.
The Shah-promoted Financial Technologies has been in the news as NSEL, its subsidiary, is facing default worth Rs 5,574 crore.
Following a complaint from investors of NSEL who lost money, EoW had frozen the personal bank accounts of Shah a month earlier, when the police filed a case. At the time, the police had not been given the power under the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishments Act, 1999, to attach properties of those found involved and the demat accounts were not frozen.
Says a senior EOW official: “We are seeking legal opinion on whether we can attach demat accounts of the people concerned.” If they get an okay, the police could attach shares of Shah as a promoter and director of NSEL.
If a promoter’s demat account is attached, it would become difficult for him or her to make any deal regarding sale of assets or raising of money against those shares.
Shah holds 8.32 million FT shares in his personal account.
At Thursday's close of Rs 173.3 on the BSE exchange, this holding would be worth Rs 144 crore. Shah's investment firm, La Fin, which he controls with his kin, owns a further 12 million shares.
