Tarun Sharma
Moneycontrol News
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has issued a non-bailable warrant against Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi in the over Rs 13,000 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case. It has questioned an officer from Allahabad Bank’s Hong Kong branch in relation to the extension of credit facilities on the basis of letter of undertaking (LoUs) issued by PNB.
The CBI special court in Mumbai has approved the application for issue of a non-bailable warrant against Choksi and Modi after the duo failed to respond to the agency’s three summons in the last two months. The duo also failed to present themselves for questioning despite repeated CBI requests. They choose to reply back via e-mail but never disclosed their whereabouts.
CBI is the second investigation agency after the Enforcement Directorate to issue a non-bailable warrant.
The agency is also questioning overseas branch officials of Indian banks in relation to the extension of credit. A CBI source said, “The department continues to question overseas branch officers of Indian banks that allegedly extended credit facilities on the basis of LoUs issued by PNB to firms related to Modi and Choksi.”After this scam was unearthed, experts had raised questions as to how foreign banks allowed credit facilities on the basis of fake LoUs.
It has also called for questioning an officer who dealt with forex transaction at Allahabad Bank. The source said the official was based at the bank’s Hong Kong branch.
The agency is investigating the 80/20 gold scheme in which 13 star trading houses received a licence to import gold. It may look into books of accounts to see if any of the trading houses received any undue benefit from this scheme. On Friday, CBI questioned former Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India HR Khan in relation to the same.
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