PNB manager among two held as CBI probes Rs 183-crore bank guarantee fraud in MP projects

Based on those emails, MPJNL awarded the company contracts worth nearly Rs 1,000 crore.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has launched an investigation into a massive financial scam involving fake bank guarantees worth over Rs 183 crore. The action follows an order from the Madhya Pradesh High Court and concerns contracts awarded by the Madhya Pradesh Jal Nigam Limited (MPJNL) for key infrastructure projects.

According to a statement released by the agency on Thursday, the CBI registered three separate FIRs on May 9. These pertain to fraudulent guarantees submitted by an Indore-based company, which bagged three major irrigation-related contracts from MPJNL in 2023, collectively worth around Rs 974 crore.

To secure the projects, the company submitted eight forged bank guarantees totalling Rs 183.21 crore. During the verification process, MPJNL received emails, seemingly from Punjab National Bank’s official domain, confirming the guarantees. However, these were later found to be fake.

Based on those emails, MPJNL awarded the company contracts worth nearly Rs 1,000 crore. Once the fraud came to light, the CBI began a large-scale operation and carried out searches on June 19 and 20 across 23 locations in five states, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, and Jharkhand.

During the raids, two people were arrested from Kolkata, including a senior manager of Punjab National Bank, the CBI said. Both were presented in a local Kolkata court and are being brought to Indore on transit remand.

Initial findings suggest that a Kolkata-based syndicate is behind the scam, and may have been using similar fake guarantees to win government contracts in other states as well. The investigation is still ongoing.

(With inputs from ANI)