PNB scam: CBI arrests former head of bank's Brady House branch
Rajesh Jindal, posted at the bank's head office New Delhi, has been arrested in connection with the fraud involving billionaire jewellers Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, officials said
The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested a General Manager rank officer of Punjab National Bank in the alleged Rs 11,400 crore scam, officials said.
Rajesh Jindal, posted at the bank's head office New Delhi, has been arrested in connection with the fraud involving billionaire jewellers Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, officials said.
Rajesh Jindal, who was the head of the Brady House, Mumbai branch of the bank during 2009-11, was taken into custody last night (February 20), officials said.
It is alleged that the issuance of Letters of Undertaking (LOUs) to Nirav Modi group firms without sanctioned limits started during his tenure.
Rajesh Jindal is presently posted as GM, Credit, PNB Head Office in the national capital.
On Tuesday, the CBI made a slew of arrests of officials from the Gitanjali Group and Firestar International Group.
Vipul Ambani, President of Finance, Firestar International group; Arjun Patil, Senior Executive, Firestar group; Kapil Khandelwal, CFO, Nakshatra group and Gitanjali group; Niten Shahi, Manager, Gitanjali group and Kavita Mankikar, Authorised Signatory of three accused firms -- Diamond R US, Stellar Diamond, Solar Exports -- were were arrested yesterday.
Besides this, three officers at PNB's MCB Brady House branch in Mumbai, who were arrested on Monday, were yesterday sent to police custody until March 3. They are Bechhu Tiwari, Chief Manager in charge of Forex department; Yashwant Joshi, Scale II, Manager Forex department; and Praful Sawant, Scale I Officer Export.
The CBI has already arrested five Punjab National Bank officials including Gokulnath Shetty, a a former Deputy Manager and Manoj Kharat, Single Window Operator.
The CBI has registered two cases in the scam involving billionaire Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi. These relate to fraudulent issuance of 150 Letters of Undertaking (LoU) (a kind of bank guarantee) worth Rs 6,498 crore and 143 LoUs worth Rs 4,886 crore. The Enforcement Directorate has also registered two separate cases to probe money laundering allegations against Choksi and Modi.
The scam started in 2011 and was detected in the third week of January this year.
(With inputs from PTI)