Punjab National Bank has also denied reports that details of debit and credit cards of its thousands of customers have been leaked. Photo: AFP
New Delhi: Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Friday said it did not consider the bid of global firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for forensic audit of accounts of Nirav Modi, accused in Rs11,400 crore fraud, in view of Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi’s) order against the audit firm.
Finding PwC guilty in the multi-crore Satyam scam, Sebi had in January barred its network entities from issuing audit certificates to any listed company in India for two years. In reply to clarifications sought by stock exchanges, PNB said it has initiated the process of assigning forensic audit in the accounts of Nirav Modi Group and bids were invited from major audit firms.
“Bid from M/s PwC was also received but in view of Sebi order dated Janaury 10, 2018 the same has not been considered,” the country’s second largest bank said. The bank further said that it is finalising the forensic audit allocation among the remaining bidders as per the Central Vigilance Commissions (CVC) guidelines. The bank also denied reports that details of debit and credit cards of its thousands of customers have been leaked.
“No card data breach has been detected in PNB’s infrastructure. Bank’s security infrastructure is strong enough and bank has taken all necessary technological steps to safeguard customer data,” it said. PNB said that it has a board approved cyber crisis management plan in place which takes care of all aspects of customer protection.
Earlier, PNB reported that it has been defrauded of Rs11,400 crore by jewellery designer Nirav Modi and associates in connivance of certain bank officials.
