A series of fake drafts issued by the bank's Hyderabad branch between May and July this year favouring two Mumbai-based jewellers -- Kirti Jewellers and Umad Jewellers -- and an unidentified party have come to light.

The bogus drafts were issued by the bank without crediting the said amount (Rs 12 crore) and were transferred to the Mumbai and Ahmedabad draft payment centres, sources said.

Confirming the development, PNB zonal manager in Mumbai AD Paliwal told The Financial Express that Rs 9 crore worth of fake bank drafts were drawn on Punjab National Bank favouring two city-based jewellers in three months between May and July. "However, it is too early to comment on the nature of the transaction and the modus operandi," he said.

"As per the information available to the bank, it is very difficult to say whether the bank drafts`propossed' to be issued by the bank were fake or not," Paliwal said. He defended the bank's involvement in the so-called scam stating that the drafts were definitely not issued by the bank. He further divulged that a couple of draft books are currently missing.

The scam came to light when the collection draft payable centre (CDPC) of PNB informed the bank about the missing draft book. The payment has been made by the bank without crediting the said amount.

According to sources, a series of drafts worth Rs 9 crore drawn by Punjab National Bank, Hyderabad branch, were deposited in the accounts of the parties. Drafts worth Rs 9 crore, favouring three parties in Mumbai, were deposited in their accounts at the Zavari Bazar branch of Bank of Baroda in Mumbai.

Similar cases have been reported at PNB's Ahmedabad branch also.

According to PNB sources, BoB was not prudent enough to check with PNB before crediting the amount into the parties' bank accounts.