Nirav Modi case: CBI files charge sheet, names PNB ex-chief, senior officials

Nirav Modi. File pic

Billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi, Allahabad Bank MD and CEO Usha Ananthasubramanian were among 22 people charge-sheeted by the CBI today in connection with the country's largest financial scam worth over USD 2 billion in Punjab National Bank (PNB), agency sources said. The charge sheet, filed in a special court in Mumbai, detailed the alleged role of Ananthasubramanian, who was the MD and CEO of PNB from 2015 to 2017 and was questioned recently by the CBI in connection with the case, the sources said.

The agency has also named PNB executive directors K V Brahmaji Rao and Sanjiv Sharan, and general manager (international operations) Nehal Ahad, and Nirav Modi's brother Nishal Modi in its charge sheet. The CBI said the fraudulent Letter of Undertakings (LoUs) issued to Nirav Modi were for Rs 6,498.20 crore, the sources said. The charge sheet, however, did not name Nirav Modi's wife Ami and his uncle and business partner Mehul Choksi, they said.

The agency has detailed the roles of Nirav Modi, his brother Nishal Modi and Subhash Parab, an executive in Nirav Modi's company, they said. The charge sheet primarily deals with the first FIR registered in the case relating to the fraudulent issuance over Rs 6,498.20 crore worth of LoUs to Diamond R US, Solar Exports and Stellar Diamonds.

The agency has not given in detail the role of Mehul Choksi in the present charge sheet. It is likely to come up when the CBI files supplementary charge sheets in the case related to the probe into his Gitanjali Group. The CBI has registered three separate FIRs in connection with the alleged fraud of USD 2 billion in the public sector bank by the companies of Nirav Modi and Choksi. Both Nirav Modi and Choksi had left the country before PNB filed the complaint with the CBI.

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