PNB fraud case: Lawyer of main accused says bank took crores as commission

Vijay Agarwal arrived from Dubai this morning. Pic/ Satej Shinde

Punjab National Bank scam accused Nirav Modi is innocent and he is not absconding," Nirav's la­w­yer, Vijay Agarwal, who arrived in the city this morning from Dub­ai, told mediapersons. Alleging that the PNB has termed commercial transactions as a fraud, Agarwal said that the "entire matter was in kno­wledge of the bank".

The PNB has lodged two financial fraud complaints of Rs 11,400 crore and R280 crore against Nirav, his family members and Mehul Choksi, owner of Gitanjali Gems.

Addressing the media, Agarwal said, "The bank took commission worth crores of rupees but now it is not accepting it. It was a commercial transaction of the bank, which is now being termed as a fraud."

Agarwal said his client is a global businessman, who keeps travelling to many countries for work. "He was alre­a­dy out of India on business purposes when this case came to light and now his passport has been revoked. Nirav has properties worth thousands of crores in India, why would he run away?"

The lawyer stated that Nirav will "come out clean" when the CBI files its charge sheet in the case. "The CBI itself has itself maintained that the amount is R280 crore, which may go up to R5,000 crore. I don't know from where the media is getting the figure of R11,500 crore. At the moment things are very hazy. We are looking at the case. We will know more about the charges when the CBI files the charge sheet and then, we will work out a strategy."

On being asked if Agarwal had met Nirav yet, the lawyer said, "Yes, we have met and we discussed the case." However, he refused to divulge more information on the interaction.