Punjab National Bank fraud now stands at Rs 12,700 crore

The PNB scam now officially stands at Rs 12,700 crore. The quantum of the unauthorised transactions of diamond merchants Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi rose by Rs 1,300 crore, according to a stock exchange notification by the Punjab National Bank. The banking fraud is one of the biggest in the sector and the same was unearthed after an internal inquiry by the PNB.

The probe revealed that the duo had duped the banks with fake letters of undertakings from the bank. Meanwhile the CBI widened the ambit of its probe and issued Look out Circulars against ten executives working with Modi's and Choksi's firms CBI sources informed that these persons may have left the country or may be in India and are avoiding investigation. If in India, these persons' movements would be greatly restricted due to the circular the officer added. Earlier during a briefing of officials, the CBI director, Alok Verma instructed them to be tough on bank fraud cases. Spare none, he had told his officials while also directing them to step up the probe.

With regard to the 10 executives, the CBI source said that they had been repeatedly told to join the probe. However all of them failed to do so. We suspect that some may have left the country at the same time that Choksi and Modi did. Either they left with them or went out for business not to return to India, the source also added. Earlier the Enforcement Directorate approached a Mumbai court seeking Letters Rogatory to obtain information about the overseas businesses of Nirav Modi. "It is an application for issuance of LR under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for recovery/seizure of proceeds of crime and collection of documents, evidence lying in Hongkong, USA, UK, UAE, South Africa and Singapore which are required in connection with the investigation," the ED said in its plea before the PMLA court. Letters Rogatory are a request from a court of a sovereign nation to a court of another sovereign nation.