First arrest in NSEL scam

Action is finally being taken in the multi-crore National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) scam, with the arrest of Amit Mukherjee, vice president of business development for NSEL on Wednesday.

Mukherjee, who came after the summons was sent to him, was held in connection with the scam worth Rs 5,600 crore. He was in charge of bringing in new investors and commodities at the spot exchange. The police said Mukherjee got huge kickbacks from the companies on the exchange.

NSEL defaulted on its payments for the eighth time in a row on Tuesday. Most of the defaulters, who never supplied goods or supplied in less quantities, were brought in by Mukherjee.

"We found that the warehouses of NSEL were mostly empty. They used to take orders, but did not have the material ready with them. The scam is to the tune of Rs 5,600 crore, and most NSEL senior officers have already been summoned and questioned," said an officer of the EOW.

The EOW filed an FIR against senior NSEL officials after 13,000 investors complained to them. The agency has conducted raids at the 65-odd NSEL warehouses across 184 locations.

Jignesh Shah, Chairman and CEO of Financial Techonologies, the group that promoted NSEL, and Joseph Massey, MD and CEO of MCX Stock Exchange have already been questioned by the Wing.u00a0