Nirav Modi, who is being investigated for over Rs 11,300 crore Punjab National Bank along with his uncle Mehul Choksi of the Gitanjali Group, told the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that he could not appear before it as his passport has been suspended.
Also Read: PNB Clarifies Over 1,400 Employees Transferred, Says No Link With Nirav Modi Fraud
Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Thursday asked Nirav Modi to come up with a concrete and implementable plan to settle the loss caused to it by fraudulent issuance of Letter of Undertakings. Another observation that came to light Thursday is that the practice of illegally issuing LoUs to favour Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi groups started in 2008, exactly a decade ago, and continued till these were discovered in January this year, according to CBI officials, reported IANS. The illicit activities resulting in fraud of Rs 11,300 crore occurred under the nose of top Punjab National Bank officials but they claimed to be unaware of the scam.
Latest Highlights Of PNB-Nirav Modi Fraud
1. The Enforcement Directorate on Friday said it has frozen Nirav Modi's bank account and shares worth Rs 43 crore in connection with the ongoing PNB fraud probe.
2. According to the Enforcement Directorate officials, Nirav Modi, in his email reply to the agency, said that he "cannot depose before the agency now as his passport has been temporarily suspended".
3. Punjab National Bank Thursday asked Nirav Modi to come up with a concrete and implementable plan to settle the loss caused to it by fraudulent issuance of Letter of Undertakings (LoU) through one of its branches. PNB said this in its response to a mail written by Nirav Modi, who allegedly cheated the bank of Rs. 11,400 crore in connivance with a few bank officials.
"You were getting LoUs issued illegally and in an unauthorized way through few bank officials. At no stage such facilities were extended by our bank to your three partner firms," sources said citing mail response sent by PNB General Manager (international banking division) Ashwini Vats to Nirav Modi.
4. In response to BSE query relating to Nirav Modi's accusation that "PNB has closed all option to recover dues by going public", Punjab National Bank, in a stock filing on Thursday, said that it has only followed lawful avenues available to them as per the law of the land to recover dues.
5. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials said the alleged multi-crore fraud by issuing LOUs and FLCs for sanction of loan to diamantire Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi's group of firms continued during Jindal's tenure. Jindal, posted as GM Credit at PNB's Head Office in New Delhi, was heading the second largest branch of the PNB when the practice of issuing the LoUs without sanctioned limits continued, reported IANS.
6. All five PNB officials arrested so far were part of the forex department at the bank's Brady House branch at the time of the fraud took place, said officials, adding these employees, in collaboration with the staff and associates of the firms headed by Nirav Modi and Choksi, committed wrongdoings for personal gains.
7. PNB's employee Tiwari, in his capacity as Chief Manager, was to monitor Shetty's transactions. However, Tiwari told the interrogators that during 2015-17, he did not monitor the fraudulent and illegal LoUs issued by Shetty.
8. The ED on Thursday said it has frozen mutual funds and shares worth Rs 94.52 crore of the Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi groups. It also seized nine high-end luxury cars of Modi as part of its investigation against him under the criminal provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). These include a Rolls Royce Ghost, a Mercedes Benz, a Porsche Panamera, three Honda variants, a Toyota Fortuner and an Innova. Officials of the agency said frozen mutual funds and shares worth Rs 86.72 crore belong to Choksi and his group, and the rest are owned by the Modi group.
9. CBI officials said details of additional amounts (of around Rs 6,400 crore) would be added to the first FIR. The second FIR also names 11 directors of the three Cholksi owned Gitanjali group companies-- Gitanjali Gems Ltd, Gili India Ltd and Nakshatra Brands Ltd. The PNB fraud came to light on January 16 when officials of Nirav Modi companies approached the bank for buyers' credit without collateral saying they had been getting such facility for years. The bank said that the official who had earlier allowed such illegal facility through LoUs and FLCs had retired by then, and on checking by officials, the whole fraud unravelled.
