The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday said it has attached fresh assets worth Rs 29.75 crore of fugitive diamond trader Nirav Modi under the anti-money laundering law. A provisional order has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach these assets that are in the form of bank deposits, land, and buildings, it said in a statement.
The jewellers and companies linked to Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi had allegedly colluded with PNB officers to obtain fake bank guarantees to get loan from overseas branches of Indian banks including Allahabad Bank, Axis Bank and UCO Bank.
However, the road to profitability has already hit some hurdles for the Delhi-based bank as the Union government has rejected its demand for an additional capital infusion of around Rs 8,000 crore in 2018-19
There can't be a parallel inquiry and parallel monitoring by the courts, Attorney General K K Venugopal told the court.
The Supreme Court on Thursday exercised its extraordinary constitutional powers and ordered the liquidation of grounded air carrier Jet Airways' assets. A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra set aside the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) decision upholding the resolution plan of Jet Airways and approved the transfer of its ownership to Jalan Kalrock Consortium (JKC).
Kingfisher Airlines has defaulted on loans of over Rs 9,400 crore obtained from various banks.
"Fitch Ratings has placed Punjab National Bank's (PNB) Viability Rating of 'bb' on Rating Watch Negative (RWN), following the large fraud reported by PNB," the US-based agency said in a statement.
ICAI intends to investigate the chartered accountants of PNB but the bank allegedly refuses to give the information sought.
The Enforcement Directorate has attached assets worth over Rs 14 crore belonging to the Gitanjali Group and its promoter and jeweller Mehul Choksi, one of the prime accused in the alleged over Rs 13,000 crore PNB loan fraud case. The properties attached, under the anti-money laundering law, include a flat measuring 1,460 sq feet located at O2 Tower in Goregaon area of Mumbai, gold and platinum jewellery, diamond stones, necklaces made of silver and pearls, watches and a Mercedes Benz car, the ED said in a statement. A provisional order for attachment has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for the assets worth a total Rs 14.45 crore that are in the name of Gitanjali Group of companies and its director Mehul Choksi, it said.
The bank also issued 234 LoUs worth Rs 1,880 crore to another group of companies promoted by Mehul Choksi in 2015 and 2016
Once such a notice is issued against a fugitive, the Interpol asks its 192-member countries to arrest or detain the person if spotted in their countries after which extradition or deportation proceedings can begin.
PNB took the delivery of these high-end luxury cars worth approximately Rs 1.34 crore last month, unmindful of the coronavirus outbreak, subsequent nation-wide lockdown and its crippling effect on the financial sector as well as the economy. The annual depreciation on this purchase will be around about Rs 20 lakh.
With the entire fraud amount becoming a non-performing asset, around 25 per cent of the bank's estimated net worth of Rs 40,000 crore could be affected.
Upgradation to the new product (from Infosys) will stabilise by this month-end
A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw issued notice to the airline and the central government seeking their replies within a week on PNB's plea.
The Reserve Bank has permitted PNB to make provisions against the fraud amount.
PNB Housing Finance on Wednesday said it will disclose the outcome of shareholders' meeting held a day earlier -- on Rs 4,000 crore capital infusion led by Carlyle Group -- in accordance with the order of the Securities Appellate Tribunal next month. The company moved the tribunal on Monday after the capital markets regulator asked it on June 18 not to go ahead with the proposed capital raise plan by allotting preference shares to the investors until it carried out a valuation of shares from an independent registered valuer. The SAT in an order dated June 21 allowed the company to go ahead with the EGM, but restricted it not to announce the voting results by the shareholders, as the matter is pending before the court.
The government had moved NCLT to freeze the assets of 19 people after CBI filed a charge sheet in Nirav Modi's case and Gitanjali Group cases.
It appears that the BJP government has succeeded in managing the communication of the PNB scam in a manner that its adverse impact on its electoral fortunes is largely contained
Govt tells PSBs to integrate banking systems, rotate staff as a policy
The event will also hurt PNB's asset quality in the March 2018 quarter. While the finer details of the fraud have not been provided, making it difficult to gauge the exact impact, analysts say it will dent the bank's financials.
The 12,000-page charge sheet further claimed that a similar fraud was detected in 2016 following which the RBI took up the issue and issued circulars to all banks.
Wanted diamond merchant Nirav Modi, who remains behind bars in a London prison as he contests his extradition to India on charges of fraud and money laundering in the estimated $2-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case, will find out the UK court's ruling in the nearly two-year-long legal battle on Thursday. The 49-year-old is expected to appear via videolink from Wandsworth Prison in south-west London at Westminster Magistrates' Court, where District Judge Samuel Goozee is set to hand down his judgment on whether the jeweller has a case to answer before the Indian courts. The magistrates' court ruling will then be sent back to UK Home Secretary Priti Patel for a sign off, with the possibility of appeals in the High Court on either side depending on the outcome.
Punjab National Bank on Friday said it has reduced education loan rates of its existing schemes by up to 1.25 per cent effective from April 1.
Gross Non-Performing Assets rose to 12.90 per at the end of March, from 6.55 per cent a year ago.
The large wilful defaulters, according to the list published by PNB, include embattled businessman Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines with an outstanding of Rs 597.44 crore.
According to ED sources Sunil Mehta said the fraud took place due to "systemic failure" and "procedural lapses", owing to lack of interface or proper links between the core banking software and the SWIFT interbank messaging system.
He escaped the country in the first week and took the oath of allegiance in Antigua on January 15
The second public offering of Punjab National Bank was oversubscribed by two times within minutes of its opening on Monday.
Punjab National Bank on Tuesday obtained permission to start its operations in Afghanistan and plans to open offices in Dubai and Shanghai as well.
In what could trigger another interest rate war, the Punjab National Bank has announced an array of concessions under its festival bonanza including 0.50 per cent cut in housing loans at 7.75 per cent.
About 40 per cent of the money lost by banks in the PNB scam and the fraud linked to fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya's defunct Kingfisher Airlines has been realised by way of sale of shares seized under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the Enforcement Directorate said on Wednesday.
'There are so many issues that the CVC is examining both with reference to the PNB and RBI,' K V Chowdary said.
'The demand for housing is always increasing, and so is housing shortage.'
'We have already sanctioned loans worth over Rs 3,000 crore to around 120,000 customers.'
The bank has one of the highest current account savings account share, stable credit quality, robust credit growth, adequate capital and low cost-to-income ratio, said PNB chief Sunil Mehta.
Gautam Adani-owned Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) will replace IT major Wipro in the 30-share BSE Sensex from June 24, according to an official announcement on Friday. This marks the first inclusion of any Adani Group firm in Sensex. The group has 10 listed firms with a combined market valuation surpassing Rs 17 lakh crore.
Most lenders that have reported their April-June business update posted slower growth in deposits sequentially as compared to the loan growth in the April-June quarter of 2024-25 (FY25). Current and savings account (CASA) deposits continue to face pressure. Private-sector lenders YES Bank, Bandhan Bank, and RBL Bank saw their deposit growth contract by 0.5 per cent, 1.5 per cent, and 2 per cent, respectively.
