Rajkot: As many as 550 people could have been allegedly duped by the ponzi scheme floated by Gitanjali Gems, owned by billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi’s uncle Mehul Choksi. Some of the people who have become victims of Choksi’s schemes have claimed that the Mumbai-based jeweller could have cheated people of Rs 250 crore to Rs 300 crore.Some of the victims from Bhavnagar on Friday held a press conference and said they had lost their hard earned money to Choksi’s ponzi schemes. The victims also include retired bank officer and member of Bhavnagar district panchayat.Former employee of State Bank of Saurashtra (now merged with State Bank of India) Dharmedrasinh Jadeja claimed to have lost Rs 1.20 lakh. He said he had invested the money for the marriage of his two daughters.Talking to TOI, Dharmendrasinh said, “Since interest rates on fixed deposits in banks and post office is low and the share market, too, is volatile, I got lured to assured 10% return offered by Gitanjali Gems.”Gitanjali Gems gave option to encash the money with interest at the time of maturity or buy gold jewellery of the same amount. Under the scheme, an investor had to pay 11 instalment of a fixed amount and the company would add the 12th instalment. Dharmendrasinh began investing in the scheme from 2007 in name of his wife and two daughters and received returns as per promised till 2012. “In 2012 I invested Rs 1.20 lakh, but never got the money back,” he said.Similarly, an employee of district panchayat in Bhavnagar Miraben Mancharamani invested Rs 9,000 and her neighbour Ashaben Dodaja also followed her. Miraben told TOI, “I was lured by their advertisement. I invested in 2013, but did not get my investment back. I have registered complaint with company officials.”Son of a government employee Nishant Rajyaguru also lost Rs 18,000 after investing in Gitanjali Gems’ scheme.Owner of Divyanirman Jewellers in Bhavnagar and former franchisee owner of Gitanjali Gems Digvijaysinh Jadeja was the first person to lodge a FIR against Mehul Choksi and alert authorities in 2015. “Nearly 550 people from Gujarat have been duped of Rs 3 crore by this firm. As per my estimate, Choksi cheated people across India to the tune of Rs 250 to Rs 300 crore,” claimed Digvijaysinh.He said that since August 2014, Bhavnagar branch of Gitanjali Gems did not get stock of jewellery to pay back its investors. Digvijaysinh was allegedly cheated by Gitanjali Gems by not paying back his deposit of Rs 36 crore as franchisee fees. “Including interest, the amount that Choksi has to pay comes to Rs 60 crore,” Digvijaysinh added.

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