How Kandivli boy Jignesh Shah made it big in business and fell off: A timeline

The long arm of law is catching up with Jignesh Shah, founder promoter of Financial Technologies India or FTIL (at present 63 Moons), a company that provides technical and software solutions for online trading. [caption id=“attachment_3013454” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Jignesh Shah. Reuters[/caption] CBI has charged Shah under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy and cheating besides provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act for alleged abuse of official position. The case relates to getting extension of recognition for MCX-SX in 2009. According to CBI, Shah, in connivance with some Sebi officials, suppressed material facts to get the extension. This is the second time Shah is getting arrested this year. In July, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested him under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in connection with the Rs 5,600 crore NSEL scam. For a middle class man, who was born and brought up in Kandivli, a Mumbai suburb, Shah’s journey easily resembles a Bollywood style rags-to-riches potboiler. In 1963, his father, Prakash Shah, who was an iron and steel trader, moved from Ahmedabad to Mumbai. Jignesh Shah graduated as a software engineer from Mumbai University. He started his career in the Bombay Stock Exchange. Here’s a time line of his rise and fall April, 1988: Jignesh Shah-led Financial Technologies (India) Ltd (FTIL) was incorporated as a company in Chennai. It overtime became a giant with nearly 40 subsidiaries. November 2003: Jignesh Shah enters into the business of commodity futures market and commences MCX operations. October 2008: FTIL subsidiary National Spot Exhange Ltd (NSEL), which is at the centre of the Rs 5,600-crore scam, commenced live spot trading in commodities. May 2012: The Consumer Affairs Ministry issues show cause notice to NSEL saying that the spot contracts allowed on the bourse violated forward contract law. July 31, 2013: After government order, NSEL suspends most spot trading contracts in view of violation of certain regulatory norms. August 6, 2013: The government bans trading in e-series contracts on NSEL, resulting in the complete halt of trading at the exchange. August 15, 2013: NSEL submits 33-week settlement plan to regulator Forward Markets Commission (FMC). August 20, 2013: NSEL defaults the first settlement and sacks exchange CEO & MD Anjani Sinha. September 2013: The finance ministry takes over regulation of commodity futures markets from the consumer affairs ministry after the payment crisis surfaced at NSEL. October 9, 2013: NSEL Vice-President Business Development Amit Mukherjee arrested, the first arrest in the scam. October 10, 2013: Jignesh Shah resigns as vice chairman and shareholder director of another group exchange MCX-SX. October 17, 2013: NSEL’s former MD and CEO Anjani Sinha arrested. October 31, 2013: Jignesh Shah resigns as Chairman of MCX. December 17, 2013: Regulator FMC declares Jignesh Shah and FTIL as unfit to run any exchanges and orderd FTIL to reduce its stake in MCX from 26 percent to 2 percent. December 20, 2013: FTIL moves high court against the FMC order. March 13, 2014: CBI files case against NSEL, questions Jignesh Shah for the whole day. May 7, 2014: Mumbai Police arrests Jignesh Shah. September 23, 2014: MCX-SX renamed Metropolitan Stock Exchange. August 7, 2014: Shah gets bail from the high court for an amount of Rs 5 lakh. November 20, 2014: Shah steps down from FTIL Managing Director position. December 9, 2014: To comply with the conditions imposed by Sebi, MCX-SX issues shares to 12 new investors, including Rakesh Jhunjhunwala. Promoter FTIL completely exits from the bourse. April 2015: ED files chargesheet in the Rs 5,600 crore NSEL scam. July 12, 2016: ED arrests Shah, alleges he is not co-operating in the probe. PMLA court remands him to five-day police custody till July 18. September 20, 2016: CBI arrests Shah on charges of cheating and suppression of facts while getting extension for recognition of MCX-SX in 2009. With PTI inputs