Latest news with #VijayAggarwal
Business Mayor
14-05-2025
- Business
- Business Mayor
BharatPe CTO Pankaj Goel resigns citing personal reasons
Goel is currently serving his notice period. Entrackr was the first to report the news on Wednesday. Speaking on condition of anonymity, sources told ET that BharatPe has not yet initiated the search for Goel's replacement. At BharatPe, Goel led the technology team and drove the group's innovation strategy. His appointment followed a seven-month vacancy after the departure of former CTO Vijay Aggarwal in November 2022. Before joining BharatPe, Goel served as senior vice president and head of payments engineering at payment aggregator Razorpay, where he superheaded execution and strategy for the company's core payments infrastructure. Broader leadership churn Goel's exit comes in the wake of several senior leadership departures at BharatPe. Alongside Aggarwal, other executives who left in late 2022 included Nehul Malhotra (head of buy-now-pay-later), Rajat Jain (chief product officer for lending and consumer products), and Geetanshu Singla (vice president, technology).Goel reported to Nalin Negi, chief financial officer and interim CEO of BharatPe who took over Suhail Sameer in 2023. With a career spanning over 31 years, Goel has held leadership roles at companies including Intuit—where he spent a decade as a product development leader—as well as Trilogy, Schlumberger, Videocon Telecommunications, Sun Microsystems, NetGuru, and Netscape Communications. His experience spans the consumer, small business, and enterprise sectors. He has led development across web, mobile, and desktop platforms, overseeing product strategy, engineering execution, data management, and user experience. IPO plans Goel's resignation comes at a time when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has granted final authorisation to Resilient Payments, a BharatPe group company, to operate as an online payment aggregator. Founded in 2018, BharatPe now operates in over 450 cities with a merchant network of more than 1.3 crore. It processes over 450 million UPI transactions monthly, with an annualised transaction value exceeding Rs 1.7 lakh crore, ET reported in April. The company is also exploring the launch of mutual funds and insurance products as its next major offerings, Negi said earlier. He estimated an additional 18 to 24 months for the company to streamline its processes and stabilise operations, with plans of public listing on the roadmap. Since its inception, BharatPe has raised over $600 million in equity funding. It was last valued at $2.7 billion in 2021. Key investors include Peak XV Partners, Coatue, and Ribbit Capital.
Hindustan Times
23-04-2025
- Hindustan Times
Antwerp court rejects Choksi's bail plea, says ‘may flee Belgium'
An Antwerp court of appeal on Tuesday rejected arrested diamantaire Mehul Choksi's plea to release him on bail, saying that fears about him fleeing from the clutches of Belgian authorities are 'legitimate', according to officials, who termed the development a major victory for Indian agencies seeking to get him extradited. Arrested on April 11 by Antwerp police based on an extradition request of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Choksi, 64, was in prison since then and was produced before the court of appeal in Antwerp on Tuesday by the Belgian prosecutors. The court of three judges presided over the proceedings, which took place in Dutch language. While Choksi's Indian lawyer, Vijay Aggarwal, who has earlier appeared for high-profile accused persons in cases like the 2G scam, Nirav Modi, coal scam, Mahadev online book app, AgustaWestland deal, etc, was present in Antwerp court on Tuesday, the arguments for fugitive's release were led by his local counsel. Choksi's legal team argued that he is not a flight risk and is undergoing cancer treatment, thus he should be released pending extradition proceedings, according to an officer, who asked not to be named. 'However, the Belgian prosecutors – on behalf of India – put a strong case that Choksi, after cheating Punjab National Bank, fled from India to Antigua and Barbuda, and from there to Belgium last year. The prosecutors argued that if released, he may flee again,' said this officer. The court, a second officer said, was convinced with the Indian request and said in its order that 'the fears of Choksi fleeing from the clutches of Belgian authorities, if released, are legitimate'. 'The judges observed that Choksi first fled from India to Antigua and Barbuda and acquired citizenship there. Subsequently he came to Belgium on the pretext of treatment and uniting with his family here,' said the second officer. 'The risk of evasion (of Choksi) has not been neutralized, and he should be kept in prison as provisional detention. Also, his medical condition doesn't show any evidence that he is not receiving proper treatment in custody,' said a third officer, citing the court order. 'It's a major victory for the Indian agencies,' he said. Vijay Aggarwal said they will go into appeal against the rejection of bail. As first reported by HT, CBI had tracked Choksi in Belgium in July last year, after which an extradition request was sent on August 27, 2024. The agency even sent its team twice to convince the authorities to arrest him. Officials cited above said a second extradition request was sent by CBI shortly after August 2024 as Choksi is charged in six cases of fraud by the agency. The extradition has been sought under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections – 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 201 (destruction of evidence), 409 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 477A (falsification of accounts), and sections 7 and 13 (bribery) of the prevention of corruption act. Besides, CBI has also invoked the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) and United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in its extradition request. The Belgium government examined India's request at various levels and approved initiating action in the matter after it was convinced about the 'dual criminality' clause in the 1901 extradition treaty between two countries. An 'order of arrest' for Choksi was issued by the Belgian prosecutors on November 25, 2024. Choksi has evaded CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is conducting a parallel money laundering probe, since 2018. After fleeing India in January 2018, he acquired the citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda and was living there until July last year with his wife Priti Choksi, who has also been named as accused by ED. The diamond businessman is accused of cheating Punjab National Bank and other banks of thousands of crores of rupees – nearly $2 billion. CBI has filed six cases against him in 2018 and 2022.
Times of Oman
23-04-2025
- Times of Oman
Mehul Choksi's bail rejected by Belgium court, legal team plans fresh appeal
Brussels: A court in Belgium has denied the bail plea of Mehul Choksi, a key accused in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) loan fraud case. A three-judge bench heard arguments in Dutch before ruling against granting bail. Choksi was arrested in Belgium last week following an official request from Indian authorities. His lawyer, Vijay Aggarwal, was seen in Antwerp ahead of the bail hearing and later met Choksi in jail. Speaking to ANI, Vijay Aggarwal expressed disappointment over the court's decision but noted that Belgian law allows multiple bail applications. He said, "Unfortunately, my client has been denied bail today. However, in Belgium, we can apply for bail as many times as needed. We will carefully consider the court's observations and submit a fresh bail plea on new grounds soon." Aggarwal also reiterated that the legal team would contest his extradition on two main grounds--the political nature of the case and concerns regarding his medical condition and treatment in India. He earlier stated that Choksi has cooperated with Indian investigative agencies and has repeatedly offered to join the investigation via video conferencing due to his health issues. The legal team earlier also pointed out procedural prerequisites for extradition, including the issuance of non-bailable warrants since 2018. Aggarwal noted that previous attempts to extradite Choksi from Dominica had failed, and Choksi had been receiving medical treatment in Antigua before travelling to Belgium for cancer care.
India Gazette
22-04-2025
- Business
- India Gazette
Mehul Choksi's bail rejected by Belgium court, legal team plans fresh appeal
ANI 23 Apr 2025, 01:00 GMT+10 Brussels [Belgium], April 22 (ANI): A court in Belgium has denied the bail plea of Mehul Choksi, a key accused in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) loan fraud case. A three-judge bench heard arguments in Dutch before ruling against granting bail. Choksi was arrested in Belgium last week following an official request from Indian authorities. His lawyer, Vijay Aggarwal, was seen in Antwerp ahead of the bail hearing and later met Choksi in jail. Speaking to ANI, Vijay Aggarwal expressed disappointment over the court's decision but noted that Belgian law allows multiple bail applications. He said, 'Unfortunately, my client has been denied bail today. However, in Belgium, we can apply for bail as many times as needed. We will carefully consider the court's observations and submit a fresh bail plea on new grounds soon.' Aggarwal also reiterated that the legal team would contest his extradition on two main grounds--the political nature of the case and concerns regarding his medical condition and treatment in India. He earlier stated that Choksi has cooperated with Indian investigative agencies and has repeatedly offered to join the investigation via video conferencing due to his health issues. The legal team earlier also pointed out procedural prerequisites for extradition, including the issuance of non-bailable warrants since 2018. Aggarwal noted that previous attempts to extradite Choksi from Dominica had failed, and Choksi had been receiving medical treatment in Antigua before travelling to Belgium for cancer care. (ANI)
