New Delhi: The CBI has started questioning senior officials of Bank of India (BOI), Axis Bank and Allahabad Bank as part of its investigation into the multi-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case involving diamantaire Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi.
According to sources, five officers, in the ranks of general manager and above, have been examined by the agency in the last few days to understand how the letters of undertaking (LoUs) and foreign letters of credit, issued by the PNB in this case, were executed favouring the firms linked to the accused—Modi and Choksi. These officers, sources said, were responsible for the operations of the Bank of India’s Antwerp branch in Belgium and the Axis Bank and Allahabad Bank branches in Hong Kong. These officials are based in India. Sources further said more such officials could be summoned by the agency.
The CBI has alleged that firms controlled by Nirav Modi and Choksi obtained fraudulent LoUs and letters of credit (LCs), worth over Rs 13,000 crore, from PNB in connivance with some officials of the bank. Modi’s firms allegedly defrauded PNB of over Rs 6,000 crore, while Choksi’s firms over Rs 7,000 crore.
Meanwhile, the CBI is preparing to send judicial requests to five countries to seek more information about the overseas business activities of the accused. The agency will soon approach a competent court for sending these judicial requests or letters rogatory (LRs) to the authorities concerned in six countries. The agency may send LRs to the USA, Hong Kong, the UAE, South Africa and Singapore, they added. A Mumbai court recently allowed another central probe agency—ED—to send LRs to six countries in connection with the case. The ED is also investigating the case.
