Ex-NSEL chief Sinha arrested

Sinha was arrested for his role in the Rs 5,600 cr payment crisis at the NSEL

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police on Thursday arrested Anjani Sinha (pictured), former MD & CEO of the scam-hit National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL). He was arrested at 6 pm after being questioned for seven-eight hours over his role in the Rs 5,600-crore payment crisis that hit the exchange two months back.

The police have charged Sinha under sections related to fraud, forgery and cheating and are expected to present him in court on Friday.

There were unconfirmed reports that during his questioning, Sinha recanted his affidavit, in which he had taken on himself the entire blame for the mess at NSEL. He is reported to have told the interrogators that some members of the NSEL board were in the know of things. Police sources, however, denied this.

In a press statement, Sharad Saraf, chairman of NSEL Investors Forum, said: “It was surprising that Sinha went back on his affidavit and implicated (promoter) Jignesh Shah and NSEL directors. This is in complete variance with what he had earlier said in his affidavit”. This, the forum said, showed why an unreliable person should not have been given the task of managing NSEL.

Sinha was scheduled to appear before EOW on Wednesday but had instead sent his wife, Shalini Sinha, managing director of SNP Designs, with an application saying he would present himself on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials had questioned Anjani Sinha in connection with a money-laundering case related to the exchange. ED had on Monday registered a preliminary inquiry report under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, suspecting large-scale money-laundering at the exchange.