Just a couple of days ago, the news of a Surat-based businessman surrendering ₹6000 cr, all in cash, to the government was making the rounds. Everyone hailed it as a great achievement post PM Narendra Modi’s announcement of demonitization of currency, a war against black money hoarders.
Well, turns out that the news is in fact a hoax. The diamond merchant has denied the reports of him giving up a huge amount of cash.
The businessman Laljibhai Patel is quite popular and has also been in the news for buying PM Modi’s blue suit which had Narendra Damodardas Modi written all over it.
Just days ago, news of him surrendering the cash spread on Twitter like wildfire. However, when a local news channel approached him, he denied any such report saying:
I am a diamond merchant and into import-export business. Mine is not a local business. There’s no question of money disclosure.
Earlier this year, the businessman had donated ₹200 crore towards education of girls in the country. He also made news when he gifted cars and flats to his employees on Diwali.
Here’s a video of Laljibhai Patel denying the false claim: