 The CBI has registered a fresh case against billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi and top officials of his firm - Firestar Diamond - for cheating the Punjab National Bank of over 321 crore rupees.
Officials said the FIR was lodged on a complaint by the bank that the Firestar group of companies committed fraud on it through its branch at Brady House in Mumbai by availing different credit facilities between 2013 and 2017.
The agency has also named Vipul Ambani, the then President (Finance) of his Firestar Diamonds International Limited, others directors and officials of the company, and unidentified public servants of the bank in the FIR.
Earlier, CBI had registered two FIRs pertaining to the PNB scam against Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi. The agency had said, it established fraud worth over 12,600 crores in its first two FIRs.
The bank has said that its Brady Road branch in Mumbai had extended credit facilities to Firestar group between 2013 and 2017. The bank alleged that credit facilities were not used for the purpose of packing credit, guarantees etc for which they were given. The bank had declared the accounts of Firestar Diamonds and Firestar International as the fraud.
During bank’s internal investigation, it spotted "circular transactions" between Modi promoted partnership firms -- Solar Exports, Stellar diamonds and Diamond R Us -- and Firestar group of companies, also promoted by him.
Modi is already facing an FIR in over Rs 6,200 crore case of alleged fraudulent letters of undertaking (LoUs) and Letters of credit (LCs) issued by the PNB. He and his uncle Mehul Choski promoter of Gitanjali group are accused in the issuance of LoUs and LCs worth over Rs 12,600 crore.
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