PNB scam: Nirav Modi's fraud LoUs issued or renewed mostly in 2017-18, says CBI
New Delhi, Feb 17 (IBNS): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has recently stated that most of the fraud Letters of Understandings (LoUs) were issued or renewed by diamond czar Nirav Modi and his kin, who are alleged to have been involved in the country's biggest bank scam, in the year 2017-2018, media reports said.
Along with Modi, his maternal uncle Mehul Choksi is also involved in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam and fraudulent LoUs.
A fresh FIR filed by the CBI against Choksi claimed that Modi's kin along with three companies had defrauded PNB of money worth Rs. 4886.72 crore by issuing 143 LoUs in the year 2017-2018 through the bank.
The CBI's statement gave a new turning point to the tussle between the ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress who have locked their horns in blaming each other for the bank scam, unfolded days ago.
Meanwhile, the government on Friday announced that the passport of the fugitive billionaire Nirav Modi, the prime accused in the Rs. 11,292-crore Punjab National Bank fraud case, and his business partner Mehul Choksi have been cancelled for four weeks.
“On the advice of the Enforcement Directorate, the passport issuing authority in the Ministry of External Affairs has suspended the validity of passports of Mr. Nirav Deepak Modi and Mr. Mehul Chinubhai Choksi with immediate effect for a period of four weeks u/s 10(A) of the Passports Act 1967,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a press release.
Modi, who is in the centre of a huge storm, reportedly left the country in January, much before the scam came to light.
According to media reports, he is now in New York.
Meanwhile, Interpol has issued diffusion notice against Modi, his wife Ami, brother Nishal and partner Choksi.
The diffusion notice is a request for cooperation or alert mechanism, less formal than an actual notice but is also used to request the arrest or location of an individual or additional information in relation to a police investigation.
On February 14, the CBI received complaints from PNB, which detected a Rs 11,292 crore fraud involving Modi.
ED started raiding Nirav Modi’s home, offices in Mumbai, Delhi and Surat on Thursday.
According to reports, Punjab National Bank has suspended eight more officials. The number of suspended employees now stands at 18, which also includes General Manager level officers. Internal investigation of the bank is still underway.
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