Giving shock to the common man as well as the higher authorities, state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Wednesday stated that it had detected fraudulent transactions at one of its branches in Mumbai worth Rs 11,360 crore ($1.77 billion).

The bank further said that these unauthorised transactions were done for a few account holders and based on these transactions other banks have advanced money in the foreign accounts of these customers.

PNB has sent letters to various banks cautioning them about their operations and stated that through the SWIFT trail it had found that without any authorisation, retired deputy manager Gokulnath Shetty and SWO Manoj Hanumant Kharat issued Letter of Undertaking (LoUs) on behalf of companies belonging to Nirav Modi and group.

The fraud was caught when after the superannuation of the same officials; same companies again approached the PNB for the LoUs. 

The same employees used this approach for the companies belonging to Gitajanli Gems. PNB has reported the case to the CBI and the ED. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has raided different showrooms and offices of Nirav Modi in Delhi and other places.

Further, there are also reports of Nirav Modi fleeing to Switzerland, though there has not been any official confirmation for the same.