The Rs 11,400 crore PNB fraud saga unfolded after a bribery complaint by the Hong Kong branch of an Indian bank.
'Paying my taxes, diligently repaying my loans, following the rules, scrupulously doing things by the book, when there's this big, beautiful world of unregulated chicanery I could have indulged in for years before just flying off to greener pastures, like Lalit Modi, Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi,' says Mitali Saran.
The I-T department also attached 34 bank accounts and fixed deposits, valued at Rs 1.45 crore, of the Gitanjali group.
The opposition has been protesting over various issues, including the Punjab National Bank scam, since Monday when Parliament had reconvened after a month-long recess in the Budget session.
Despite high exposure of public sector banks to power, iron and steel sectors, analysts remain in a wait-and-watch mode.
The Dominica high court has granted bail to fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi, allowing him to travel to Antigua and Barbuda for treatment of his neurological condition, local media there reported. The high court has granted a consent order permitting Choksi to go to Antigua, where he has been staying as a citizen since 2018 after he left India, after depositing Eastern Caribbean Dollars 10,000 (approximately Rs 2.75 lakh as per exchange rate) as bail money, Antigua Breaking News reported. The court has also stayed the ongoing trial before a magistrate for his alleged illegal entry into Dominica on May 23, it said.
The Indian High Commission in London on Thursday welcomed the Westminster Magistrates' Court ruling in the extradition case of diamond merchant Nirav Modi, wanted in India to stand trial on charges of fraud and money laundering related to the Punjab National Bank (PNB) letters of undertaking (LoUs) scam case. A senior diplomat at India House said the judgment, which found a prima facie case against the accused, paves the way for the government of India and the high commission officials to liaise with the UK authorities on the next stages of the procedural matters for his early extradition to India. "The judgment paves the way for the government of India, including the High Commission of India in London, to liaise with the UK authorities on the procedural matters," said the diplomat at the High Commission. "As with previous extradition cases, we will press on with the next steps," he said.
'Under Modi Ji's 'Jan Dhan Loot Yojana', another scam!' he tweeted.
Reduce the government stake in public sector banks to 33 per cent, recommends A K Bhattacharya
The latest fraud is a failure of management supervision and accountability, as no bad debt was generated and no cash was involved
The assets have been attached as part of five separate orders issued by the central probe agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, it said.
Companies owned by fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi have allegedly siphoned off over Rs 6,344.96 crore from the Punjab National Bank (PNB) using fraudulent letters of undertaking and foreign letters of credit, a CBI investigation into the scam has detected. The findings were submitted by the CBI in a supplementary chargesheet filed before a special court in Mumbai last week, where the agency said the PNB was conned by its employees who were allegedly hand in gloves with Choksi and his company executives and who facilitated the scam as part of a criminal conspiracy. The PNB officials at the bank's Brady House branch in Mumbai issued 165 letters of undertaking (LoUs) and 58 foreign letters of credit (FLCs) during March-April 2017, against which 311 bills were discounted.
ICAI intends to investigate the chartered accountants of PNB but the bank allegedly refuses to give the information sought.
Bankers seem to be pleased with the government for keeping its promise of not interfering in operational matters, but are apprehensive about the intense scrutiny of their functioning.
Tuesday was the 12th day in a row that Parliament did not functioned and the current stalemate has entered the third week.
The BJP chief said the ED and the CBI have taken prompt action in the Nirav Modi case.
Sebi has barred fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi and one Rakesh Girdharlal Gajera from the capital markets for one year and levied a fine totalling Rs 2.5 crore on them for violating insider trading rules in the matter of Gitanjali Gems. In addition, they have been restrained from buying, selling or otherwise dealing in securities of Gitanjali Gems Ltd (GGL) for a period of two years. Also, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has directed Gajera to disgorge a sum of Rs 15.82 crore.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley revealed that the government wanted to give Hasmukh Adhia a post-retirement role, but Dr Adhia said he would not work for a single day after November 30.
'The web of transactions is so complex that it requires expertise to understand the strategies involved in each fraud.'
The bank also issued 234 LoUs worth Rs 1,880 crore to another group of companies promoted by Mehul Choksi in 2015 and 2016
He said that Government of Dominica and law enforcement agencies, unless the court rules otherwise, can deport him to India because he is an Indian citizen, Antigua News Room reported.
ED attached 21 properties of Nirav Modi and his group worth over Rs 523 crore.
The industry body has issued two advisories in an attempt to restore jewellers credibility in the wake of the Rs 12,000-crore PNB-Nirav Modi scam, and recent defaults by two domestic jewellers - Goodwin and Rasiklal.
The banking sector's credibility is on thin ice. Unless the government takes strict steps, things could get worse.
Currently, confiscation can be done through multiple laws, but it is a complicated process.
He also attacked Modi on the CBSE question papers leak and on the 'leak' of assembly election date for Karnataka, saying Modi was silent on these issues too.
The possibility of the slowdown affecting more players is greater if the industry doesn't get access to easier finance in the next six to eight months.
'We feel there is definitely something murky in the system.' 'Will anyone believe that Nirav Modi will go to a branch and bribe a low-level officer?' 'Just look at the people with whom he had moved around.'
The issue of extradition of Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi figured in a virtual summit between India and the UK on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserting that economic offenders should be sent back to the country at the earliest for trial. India has been pressing the United Kingdom to extradite Mallya and Modi to face trial in India for their alleged involvement in cases relating to financial fraud. At a media briefing, joint secretary in the Europe West division in the ministry of external affairs (MEA) Sandeep Chakravorty said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has mentioned that the authorities in the UK will do whatever possible to make sure that the economic offenders are extradited.
The issue of extradition of Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi figured in a virtual summit between India and the United Kingdom on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserting that economic offenders should be sent back to the country at the earliest for trial.
It has also attached fresh 66 banks accounts, holding deposits of Rs 80.07 crore, of the Gitanjali group, owned by Modi's uncle Mehul Choksi.
The 49-year-old jeweller, wanted in India on charges of fraud and money laundering in the estimated USD 2-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case, further remanded in custody during a routine call-over hearing held via videolink at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London.
The CBI on Wednesday directed him to contact the embassy of India in a country where he is staying so that his travel to India can be arranged
Vikram Kothari took a loan of Rs 485 crore from Mumbai-based Union Bank of India and a loan of Rs 352 crore from Kolkata-based Allahabad Bank. A year later, Kothari has reportedly not paid back either the interest or the loan.
A high court judge in London on Monday granted fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi permission to appeal against a magistrates' court order in favour of extradition to India to face charges of fraud and money laundering before the Indian courts on mental health and human rights grounds. Justice Martin Chamberlain delivered his verdict remotely under COVID-19 rules to conclude that the arguments presented by the 50-year-old diamond merchant's legal team concerning his "severe depression" and "high risk of suicide" were arguable at a substantial hearing. He also noted that the adequacy of the measures capable of preventing "successful suicide attempts" at Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai, where Nirav Modi is to be detained upon extradition, also fall within the arguable ambit.
While PNB did not name the other lenders, Union Bank of India, Allahabad Bank and Axis Bank are said to have offered credit based on letters of undertaking (LOUs) issued by PNB. Foreign bank branches too are under investigation.
'Modi wants to reverse everything Nehru did, but is shy of touching his daughter's most unwise policies.' 'There is no example of this more stark than bank nationalisation,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Wanted diamond merchant Nirav Modi appeared via videolink from his London prison for a regular call-over hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday, when he was further remanded in custody until February 25, when the judgment in his extradition case is to be handed down. District Judge Angus Hamilton informed Modi that he would most likely be appearing again via videolink on the day of the ruling, which will decide whether the 49-year-old jeweller has a case to answer before the Indian courts on fraud and money laundering in relation to the Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case. Last month, District Judge Samuel Goozee had confirmed the timeline for the judgment at the end of closing submissions in the case, during which he heard that Modi is responsible for overseeing a "ponzi-like scheme" that caused enormous fraud to PNB.
Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Viral Acharya is the eighth economist to quit since the Modi government took office.
The imapsse continues over issues like bank scams and special status demand for Andhra Pradesh.
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