The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) on Monday asked the scam-hit Punjab National Bank (PNB) to submit a report in the next 10 days detailing the systemic lapses that may have led to the ₹11,400-crore fraud at its Brady House branch in Mumbai.
PNB has been asked to name the bank officials involved in the scam and identify senior management officials who could have taken action to prevent this fraud, which has reportedly spanned over seven years.
These directions came at an over two-hour-long meeting convened by Chief Vigilance Commissioner KV Chowdary at the CVC office in the capital.
Besides Sunil Mehta, Managing Director & CEO, PNB, the public sector bank was also represented by its Chief Vigilance Officer at the meeting.
TM Bhasin, Vigilance Commissioner, CVC, was present at the meeting, which was also attended by senior Finance Ministry officials and representatives of the Reserve Bank of India..
Raids continue
This came on a day when the Enforcement Directorate, the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Income Tax Department continued with their search-and-raid operations across various cities where Nirav Modi-led firms and Mehul Choksi’s Gitanjali Gems had operations. The CBI on Monday continued with search operations at PNB’s Brady House branch. Today was the second straight day when the mid-corporate branch was being searched. It was a bank holiday on Monday in Mumbai, being the birth anniversary of Chatrapathi Shivaji.
Monday also saw the CBI questioning Vipul Ambani, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Nirav Modi’s company Firestar Diamonds.
Vipul Ambani, who is understood to be a relative of the late industrialist Dhirubhai Ambani, had been CFO of Firestar Diamonds for over three years and is said to conversant with the operations of the Nirav Modi-led firms.
On Monday, the Enforcement Directorate also raided Nirav Modi’s South Mumbai Residence (Samudra Mahal bungalow in Worli), sources said.
PNB clarifies
Meanwhile, PNB on Monday clarified that it will “honour” all its “bonafide commitments” under Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) and Foreign Letter of Credits as per the law and the specific guidelines of the regulator (the RBI) on LoUs and FLCs.
This clarification is seen as a reiteration of the stance taken by Sunil Mehta, Managing Director & CEO, PNB, when the scam came to light.
Mehta has said that the overseas branches of other Indian banks that honoured the LoUs should also take responsibility and share the liability, if any, as finally determined by the RBI.