News Analysis India

Tag: PNB

  • Punjab National Bank’s chief manager arrested for collusion in Rs 400 crore loan scam: Police

    Some of the former employees of the bank who colluded in the scam too would be arrested soon, the SP said.

  • PNB scam accused Vipul Chitalia gets bail for attending family ceremony

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: A special CBI court here on Thursday granted temporary bail to the Gitanjali group’s vice president Vipul Chitalia, an accused in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam, to attend a pre-marriage ceremony of his daughter.

    Chitalia, arrested in March 2018 in connection with the scam in which diamond traders Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi are the prime accused, is in judicial custody at the Arthur Road Jail.

    He had sought bail to attend a ceremony ahead of his daughter’s marriage.

    Special judge V C Barde allowed him to attend the ceremony at his residence in suburban Borivali in police escort on August 14 and 15, as per the court order.

    Choksi and Nirav Modi are accused of obtaining Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) and Foreign Letters of Credit (FLCs) of Rs 12,636 crore from the PNB based on fraudulent claims, and causing the nationalized bank a huge loss.

    An LoU is a guarantee given by an issuing bank to Indian banks having branches abroad to grant short-term credit to the applicant.

  • Antigua and Barbuda prefers repatriation of Mehul Choksi from Dominica to India directly: Report

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Antigua and Barbuda prefers that fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi be repatriated from Dominica to India directly, the Cabinet of the Caribbean island country decided in a meeting, local media reported.

    The Cabinet minutes published by the media outlet show that “Choksi matter” was one of the agenda items discussed during the meeting on Wednesday where it was held that Choksi is now a “problem” of Dominica and if he comes back to Antigua and Barbuda the “problem reverts” to it.

    The meeting chaired by Prime Minister Gaston Browne and attended by all his ministers physically and virtually decided that law enforcement officials will continue to gather intelligence in the circumstances of Choksi’s “departure” from Antigua, media outlet Antigua Breaking News said.

    “The preference of the Cabinet of Antigua and Barbuda is for Choksi to be repatriated to India from Dominica,” the Cabinet minutes said.

    Choksi had mysteriously gone missing on May 23 from Antigua and Barbuda where he was staying since 2018 as a citizen.

    He was detained in neighbouring island country Dominica for illegal entry after a possible romantic escapade with his rumoured girlfriend.

    His lawyers alleged that he was kidnapped from Jolly Harbour in Antigua by policemen looking like Antiguan and Indian and brought to Dominica on a boat.

    A Dominica High Court is hearing an Habeas Corpus petition filed on behalf of Choksi challenging his illegal detention.

    He was also brought before Roseau Magistrate, on the orders of High Court, to answer charges of illegal entry where he pleaded not guilty but was denied bail.

    Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi had fled India in the first week of January, 2018 weeks before Rs 13,500 crore scam in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) rocked the Indian banking industry.

    The duo allegedly bribed the officials of the state-run bank to get Letters of Undertaking on the basis of which they availed loans from overseas banks which remained unpaid.

    The allegedly corrupt officials did not enter these LoUs in the core banking software of the PNB thus evading any scrutiny.

    The non-payment of these LoUs or bank guarantees worth Rs 13,500 crore resulted in default and became a liability on the bank.

    Modi escaped to Europe and was finally held in London where he is contesting his extradition to India while Choksi took citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda in 2017 where he had been staying since his escape from Delhi.

  • Answer charges of illegal entry before magistrate: Dominica HC to Mehul Choksi

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Dominica High Court on Wednesday ordered that diamantaire Mehul Choksi be produced before a magistrate there to answer charges of his illegal entry into the Caribbean island country, local media reported.

    Dominica High Court Judge Bernie Stephenson issued the orders after nearly three hours of hearing on a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of Choksi who had claimed that he was abducted from neighbouring Antigua and Barbuda and forcefully brought to the Caribbean Island nation.

    She adjourned the habeas corpus matter till Thursday, Dominica News Online reported.

    Rejecting the submission of Choksi who is wanted in India in an alleged Rs 13,500 crore loan fraud case in Punjab National Bank and has an Interpol Red Notice against him, the prosecution said the habeas corpus petition does not stand as he had illegally entered the country and was subsequently detained.

    His lawyers, however, alleged that he was kidnapped from Jolly Harbour in Antigua and brought to Dominica on a boat, about 100 nautical miles away.

    “Our stand that Mr Mehul Choksi is in illegal detention as he was required to be produced within 72 hours before the magistrate and was not so produced has been vindicated.

    In order to remedy this, he has been asked to be produced before the magistrate.

    This establishes illegal detention of Mr Mehul Choksi as pleaded by the defence,” Choksi’s lawyer Vijay Aggarwal said.

    “The matter being heard is of habeas corpus petition…and not of his repatriation to India. His citizenship is not in question before the court….Contrary to numerous media reports, there was no discussion regarding Government of India,” Aggarwal said.

    The diamantaire, who mysteriously went missing on May 23 from Antigua and Barbuda where he had been staying since 2018 as a citizen, was detained in neighbouring Dominica for illegal entry after a possible romantic escapade with his rumoured girlfriend.

    Choksi’s wife Preeti told reporters that the woman in question was not his girlfriend.

    She said the woman was known to him and used to go on walks with him.

    She said Choksi was abducted by people looking like Indian and Antiguan when he had gone to meet the woman.

    During Wednesday’s trial, Choksi was present through video-conferencing from Dominica China Friendship Hospital while his lawyers were present physically in court.

    The judge asked authorities to share court documents with Choksi who is admitted at the Hospital.

    His lawyers said that he does not feel safe in police custody and that he should be sent back to Antigua and Barbuda, local media reported.

    He also said he would pay for his security and raised the issue of injury marks found on his body and him being hospitalised.

    In case of an adverse order, Choksi has the option of appealing in higher courts.

    Last week, the Government of Dominica had issued a press statement that it was verifying the status of Choksi’s citizenship with Antigua and Barbuda.

    “Once the information is provided by the Antigua authorities, possible arrangements will be made for Mr.

    Mehul Choksi to be repatriated to Antigua,” the statement had said.

    A team of multi-agency officials led by a CBI DIG has gone to Dominica to bring Choksi to India if court there clears his deportation to India, officials said.

    Choksi’s arrest has created turbulence in the calm political waters of the neighbouring Caribbean Island countries — Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica –where allegations have been levelled against opposition parties supporting the businessman having an Interpol Red Notice against him.

    Dominican Leader of Opposition Lennox Linton had to issue a denial on the reports of meeting Chetan Choksi, the brother of Mehul Choksi, or receiving any money from him.

    “I do not know Chetan Choksi. I have never seen him. I have never spoken to him. I have never met with him,” Dominica News Online quoted a video message released by Linton.

    Local media outlet Associate Times had alleged that Choksi arrived on a private jet on May 29 and met Linton at his home in Marigot locality the next day for nearly two hours where he gave token money of USD 2 lakh and promised funding for elections in return for raising the issue in Parliament.

    The outlet alleged that Linton was quiet on the Mehul Choksi affair till meeting his brother Chetan.

    After the meeting, he started attacks on the government over the arrest of the fugitive diamantaire.

    Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi are wanted for allegedly siphoning Rs 13,500 crore of public money from the state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) using letters of undertaking.

    While Modi is in a London prison after being repeatedly denied bail and is contesting his extradition to India, Choksi took citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda in 2017 using the Citizenship by Investment programme before fleeing India in the first week of January 2018.

    The scam came to light subsequently.

  • PNB fraud: Warrant against Nirav Modi’s sister, brother-in-law kept in abeyance

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: A special PMLA court on Thursday kept in abeyance the warrant issued against the sister and brother-in-law of fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi till further orders.

    Modi’s sister Purvi and her husband Maiank Mehta had “turned approvers” in the USD 2 billion PNB fraud case, in which Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi are the prime accused.

    The couple had approached the court in February for cancellation of non-bailable warrants (NBWs) issued against them, on the grounds that they had turned approvers in the case.

    Modi, who is currently lodged in a UK prison, Choksi and others are being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) money laundering case since 2018.

    Purvi (47) is a Belgian national, while her husband is a British citizen, and the couple, who are stated to be based abroad, have never joined the probe in the case.

    Purvi was arraigned as an accused in the case, where multiple chargesheets have been filed by the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

  • Court denies bail to retired bank official in PNB scam case

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: A special court here on Saturday denied bail to retired bank official Gokulnath Shetty, a key conspirator and prime accused in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case.

    Shetty was arrested in March 2018 for allegedly playing a key role in the Rs 13,700-crore loan fraud while working as a deputy manager at PNB’s Brady House branch in Mumbai.

    Special judge for cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) V C Barde rejected Shetty’s bail plea.

    The scam came to light when jewellery firms of prime accused Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi approached the Brady Road branch of the PNB in January 2018, seeking Letters of Understanding (LoU) for payment to suppliers.

    The bank realised that LoUs were being issued to these firms fraudulently for seven years by bypassing its core banking system, and Shetty was allegedly instrumental in this.

    An LoU is a guarantee given by the issuing bank to overseas branches of Indian banks to grant short-term credit to an applicant, and in case of loan default, the bank issuing the LoU has to honour the liability.

    Efforts are on to bring back Modi and Choksi to India from abroad to face trial in the case, which is being probed by the Enforcement directorate and CBI.

  • RBI imposes fine of 5.78 crore on 6 entities including PNB, PhonePe

    The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a fine of Rs 5.78 crore on 6 companies including PNB, Sodexo and PhonePe for violation of regulatory guidelines. Under Section 30 of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, the RBI has imposed a penalty on these units for not complying with the regulatory guidelines. Except Punjab National Bank, the remaining five are non-bank prepaid payment product issuing units.

    PPI is used for the purchase of goods and services, as well as for the payment of money to friends, relatives, etc. RBI has fined Sodexo SVC India Private Limited, Muthoot Vehicle and Asset Finance Limited, Quick Silvers Solutions Private Limited, PhonePay Private Limited, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited and Punjab National Bank.

    Sodexo has been fined Rs 2 crore, while PNB and Quick Silver Solutions were fined Rs 1 crore each. At the same time, a penalty of Rs 1.39 crore has been imposed on PhonePe and Rs 34.55 lakh on Muthoot Vehicle and Asset Finance and Rs 5 lakh on Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.