PNB scam: CBI finds scam went undetected for over 10 years

Four arrested accused have been remanded in police custody till March 17. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Agencies probing the money-laundering scam involving Nirav Modi's company and Punjab National Bank (PNB) officials have found that the scam went undetected for over 10 years because the accused used the rolling-over method - PNB officials kept issuing new letters of undertaking (LOUs) to settle old ones, amounts of which ran into several thousand crores.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in its probe has found that over 150 new LOUs worth Rs 6,498 crore were issued by former PNB deputy branch manager Gokulnath Shetty in 2017. When the FIR was filed, PNB had mentioned just eight LOUs to CBI. Searches at the branch in Brady House have led to recovery of some of these LOUs; officials suspect the remaining may have been destroyed by the accused.

The volume of the scam may rise, and CBI suspects involvement of more bank officials and outsiders. Apart from the LOUs, the accused issued foreign letters of credit to benefit the accused. An inspection of the documents has also revealed unverified loans worth a whopping Rs 5,001 crore to Nirav's companies.

Four arrested accused - Manish Bosamiya, then AGM (operations), and Miten Pandya, then finance manager, both at Firestar International, Sanjay Rambhia, a partner in the CA firm M/s Sampat, and Aniyath Nair, then director of M/s Gili India Limited, were produced in the CBI court yesterday and remanded in police custody till March 17.

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