PNB MD Sunil Mehta likely to appear before SFIO after agency summoned top executives of ICICI Bank, Axis Bank

PNB managing director and CEO Sunil Mehta is likely to appear before the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) to record his statement in connection with the Rs 12,700-crore bank fraud involving Nirav Modi. On Tuesday, the SFIO had summoned the ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and Axis Bank MD Shikha Sharma in relation to the probe in loans given to Mehul Choksi's Gitanjali Gems.

The SFIO, which comes under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, had recorded statements of senior officials of private sector lenders Axis Bank and ICICI Bank on Tuesday. As part of the investigation, the SFIO has issued summons to heads of over 30 banks that have exposure to companies of diamond traders Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi.

"We have summoned Mehta (the head of the beleaguered state-run bank) and he is expected to appear before us tomorrow," an SFIO official told PTI. With Axis Bank and ICICI Bank officials complying with the SFIO summons, other banks are likely to follow the suit.

A team from Axis Bank, led by deputy managing director V Srinivasan and executives from the trade and transactions department, went to the SFIO's office on Tuesday. Axis Bank revealed that it has a Rs 200-crore exposure to the scam-tainted companies promoted by Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi.

"The SFIO has today sought information on the accounts of the Nirav Modi and Gitanjali groups of companies. We would like to state that exposure of Axis Bank to these entities is approximately Rs 200 crore," it said in a late evening regulatory filing.

The team from Axis Bank was followed by a senior manager from its larger rival ICICI Bank also going into the south Mumbai office of the agency, where he answered questions regarding its exposure to Gitanjali Gems, sources said.

With an outstanding of over Rs 600 crore to Gitanjali, ICICI Bank is the lead bank in the consortium of 31 banks which have loaned over Rs 6,800 crore to the company.

The bank has also clarified that it was "working capital lenders to the Gitanjali group of companies along with several other banks in the consortium."

Saying that the bank was fully cooperating with the investigation agencies, the ICICI Bank said: "Our exposure to the Gitanjali group of companies is not the largest among lenders in the consortium."

with PTI inputs