Former FTIL CMD Jignesh Shah lashes out at Chidambaram, FMC

In a rare interaction with the media, Jignesh Shah — founder and promoter of Financial Technologies India or FTIL (now 63 Moons Technologies) — said the 13 individuals, including his relatives, named by in the recent SEBI order are not guilty. He also implicated former UPA finance minister P Chidambaram in the case.

Shah said the whole situation could have been averted (back in 2013) if Forward Markets Commission (former regulator of commodity market) had tried solving the problem rather than eliminating FTIL.

On Wednesday, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) ordered impounding of “averted losses” worth over Rs 125 crore through alleged insider trading in MCX and its erstwhile promoter FTIL by 13 persons, including relatives of Shah and former top executives, with “prior information” about the NSEL case.

Shah, who served as the CMD of FTIL at the time when the alleged conspiracy took place, said people bought shares in the company in compliance with regulations and stated that the information about NSEL was not unpublished.

He further said Forward Markets Commission (FMC) was not looking at solving the problem and claimed, “The intention then was not to solve the crisis but to eliminate the company from its roots and protect the monopoly of the exchanges.”

He went on to claim that the UPA 2 government was against his success and was trying to help other exchanges. The book ‘The Target’, which is about Shah's journey, also mentions about the crisis.

During the interaction, Shah said, “Based on the information, (I know that) FMC was working very closely with P Chidambaram. There should be an investigation on the role of FMC and P Chidambaram. This is the pattern that has emerged consistently.”

He also dared former finance minister P Chidabaram, former FMC chairman Ramesh Abhishek and former additional secretary in DEA, K P Krishnan, to have a public debate with him on the issue.

When asked if the company or Shah is planning to take legal help against the three, Shah, now chairman emeritus of 63 Moons Technologies said, “Options are open.” He added that he has the legal rights and whatever is rightly available he will utilise that.

Shah said the UPA 2 government was against his success and was trying to help other exchanges