PNB suspends 8 more employees in connection with fraud case, total 18 suspended till now
Fraudulent transactions worth about $1.8 billion or roughly Rs. 11,500 crore were detected from a single Punjab National Bank branch in Mumbai (Representational Image)
Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Friday suspended eight more employees, in addition to the ten suspended previously, in connection with the $1.8 billion fraud case.
As of today, a total of 18 PNB employees, including General Manager level officers, have been suspended. Meanwhile, internal investigation of the bank is still underway.
Earlier today, Interpol issued diffusion notice against billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi, his wife Ami Modi, brother Nishal Modi and his business partner and uncle Mehul Choksi.
The diffusion notice is issued to request the arrest or seek location of an individual or additional information in relation to a police investigation. After almost 24 hours, raids continued at Nirav Modi’s boutique in Kala Ghoda in Mumbai.
It is alleged that Modi and his associate companies fraudulently acquired PNB guarantees worth $ 1.77 billion, roughly Rs 11,500 crore, that they later used to obtain overseas loans.
The CBI has sought revocation of the passports of billionaire jewellery designer Nirav Modi and his partner Mehul Choksi, who are the main accused in alleged fraudulent transactions through 150 letters of understanding issued by the Punjab National Bank.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) also conducted searches at 17 premises of Nirav Modi and Geetanjali Gems across India in connection with the same case.
So far, the agency has managed to seize stocks of gold, diamond and other precious stones worth Rs 5100 crore.
The scam was started in 2011 and was detected in the third week of January this year. PNB officials reported it to the concerned agencies earlier this week.
