PNB fraud: Shares of the scam-hit Punjab National Bank extended losses in the mid-morning session on Wednesday diving nearly 4% as Sunil Mehta, MD & CEO, PNB appeared before the anti-fraud agency SFIO (Serious Fraud Investigation Office). Sunil Mehta was also summoned by SFIO, along with Chanda Kochhar and Shikha Sharma. As the probe in India’s biggest banking scandal involving nation’s second-largest bank, PNB is widening day after day, investigative agencies are questioning the top officials of various banks and senior management associated to the scam-tainted Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi group companies, whosoever is available.
At around, 11:40 am, the stock of Punjab National Bank tanked 3.88% to a day’s low of Rs 94.05 on NSE. A heavy trading volume has been observed in the shares of Punjab National Bank since the day when the state-run lender informed about the “unauthorised and fraudulent” transactions. Even today, as at 12:05 pm, more than 3.1 crore shares of PNB exchanged hands on both NSE and BSE with about 2.85 crore shares on NSE alone.
SFIO, the investigative arm of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, is now digging deeper into the ongoing probe by examining and questioning the top bankers who were directly or indirectly associated with the so-called scandal of Rs 12,700 crore. According to a PTI report, SFIO is also expected to call officials of nearly 31 banks which have an exposure to the companies of diamond traders Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi.
Earlier Yesterday, SFIO had summoned several top bankers including ICICI Bank’s MD & CEO Chanda Kochhar and Axis Bank’s MD & CEO Shikha Sharma in connection with the working capital loan facility given to Mehul Choksi group companies amounting nearly Rs 5,000 crore.
The billionaire diamond merchant Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi (promoter of Gitanjali Gems) are the prime accused in the biggest banking scandal of India. Nirav Modi was involved in the supposed fraud in which his group companies obtained buyer’s credit from several domestic lenders outside India on the basis of LoU (Letters of Undertaking) issued by PNB through unauthorised channels without following proper protocols.
Earlier on 14 February, Punjab National Bank informed about the fraud transactions being carried out from one of the branches of Punjab National Bank at Brady House in Mumbai. Following the probe and questioning by ED and CBI, two weeks later, PNB said that the quantum of fraud may scale up by $204 million, taking the total scam amount to nearly Rs 12,700 crore. The Central Bureau of Investigation has grabbed over a dozen persons so far, including former MD of PNB to several other officials related to companies of Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi.
