New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was today given go-ahead by the Centre to prosecute former PNB chairman and CEO Usha Ananthasubramanian and former executive director (ED) of PNB Sanjiv Sharan in the Rs 14,356 crore scam.
With jewellers Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi being the focus of investigations into the Punjab National Bank scam, the agency will probe Subramanian and Sharan’s alleged oversight.
Persons familiar with the developments also added that Ananthasubramanian, who is also former Allahabad Bank CEO, was removed from service today. The Allahabad Bank board had earlier stripped away all her executive powers after the CBI had named her in the scam.
Ananthasubramanian did not respond to Mint’s calls seeking a response.
In May, the CBI had filed a chargesheet in the matter in a Mumbai sessions court on the basis of a case registered on 15 February.
“The chargesheet had been registered for a total amount of Rs 7,080.86 crore, covering 142 letters of undertaking (LoUs) and 58 foreign letters of credit. It named 18 entities and individuals, including top PNB officials,” said the person quoted above.
The officials included Ananthasubramanian and two former serving executive directors of PNB, Brahmaji Rao and Sanjiv Sharan.
In the chargesheet, the CBI had alleged that Ananthasubramanian and other senior bank officials were aware of the goings on but did not take any corrective measures. The investigating agency has also alleged that Ananthasubramanian had without authorisation delegated work to her subordinates. Ananthasubramanian served as managing director and CEO of PNB from August 2015 to May 2017.