New Delhi:
The sleuths of Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday continued to search the Mumbai boutique of Nirav Modi, the prime accused in India’s biggest banking scam for the second consecutive day.
Nirav Modi, a Billionaire jewellery designer and other members of his family allegedly made fraudulent transactions of over Rs 11,300 crore through 150 letters of understanding issued by the Punjab National Bank.
The raids were being conducted at Nirav Modi’s boutique in Mumbai’s Kala Ghoda area.
Earlier on Thursday, the law enforcement agency had seized diamond and gold jewellery worth Rs 5,100 crore in nationwide searches.
The agency conducted raids at as many as 17 locations belonging to Modi in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Surat and Jaipur after filing a Rs 280-crore money laundering case against him.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED also moved separate applications to the External Affairs Ministry seeking the revocation of passports of Modi and his maternal uncle Mehul Choksi, the promoter of Gitanjali jewellery chain.
Also Read | PNB Scam: Businessman alerted PMO office about Gitanjali's illegal loans in 2016
Here are the live updates on Punjab National Bank scam:
# The fraud was done in matter of issuance of unauthorised & fraudulent Letters of Undertaking in favor of foreign branches of Indian based banks & purported Foreign Letters of Credits in favor of foreign suppliers of accused companies
# FIR registered against 2 PNB officials Gokulnath Shetty & Manoj Hemant Karat in Mumbai stating that they, in connivance with accused companies defrauded PNB to the tune of USD 754.92 Millions
# It's case of operational risk arising on account of delinquent behaviour by one or more employees of the bank & failure of internal controls. RBI has already undertaken supervisory assessment of control systems in PNB & will take appropriate supervisory action.
# There have been reports that in wake of fraud involving the sum of USD 1.77 billion that has surfaced in Punjab National Bank, RBI has directed PNB to meet its commitments under Letter of Undertaking to other banks. RBI denies having given any such instructions.
There have been reports that in wake of fraud involving the sum of USD 1.77 billion that has surfaced in Punjab National Bank, RBI has directed PNB to meet its commitments under Letter of Undertaking to other banks. RBI denies having given any such instructions: RBI #PNBFraudCase
— ANI (@ANI) February 16, 2018
# Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi have been summoned by Enforcement Directorate to appear before its Mumbai Office on 23rd February: ED sources
# ED directed Nirav Modi's head office that no sale/purchase should happen in showrooms in New York, London, Macau and Beijing: ED Sources
# ED registered another case on Friday against Nirav Modi. 35 new locations were raided. Searches covering 11 states. Diamond and gold worth 549 crore seized today. Total 5649 crore.(Including Thursday's recovery) 29 immovable properties identified: ED Sources
# IT officials paste notice outside Nirav Modi's boutique in Mumbai's Kala Ghoda
# I can say with confidence that this gentleman is not in touch with any of our officials & frankly at this stage we are not aware about his location: Raveesh Kumar on Nirav Modi
I can say with confidence that this gentleman is not in touch with any of our officials & frankly at this stage we are not aware about his location: Raveesh Kumar, MEA #NiravModi #PNBFraudCase pic.twitter.com/1fMUamd1pg
— ANI (@ANI) February 16, 2018
# After suspension of his passport Nirav Modi have to stay in the country only, he cannot go anywhere else, says MEA Raveesh Kumar
# This is a banking fraud, which is being investigated. We are making sure that the money is recovered, says Javadekar
# Finance Secretary during UPA's regime, instead of taking action, forced Dinesh Dubey to resign. We are asking who pressurised the Foreign Secretary to pressurise Dinesh Dubey: Union Minister Prakash Javadekar
# It is the alertness of the NDA govt which has brought this scam into light. All the NPAs, the wrongful distribution of loans, amongst others were all passed down to us by the UPA Govt. This is a scam by the bank & not the govt, says Prakash Javadekar
# 3 main companies named in the FIR have 36 subsidiary companies. Out of those 36 companies, 17 are in Mumbai, 1 in Hyderabad and rest of the companies are located out of India. Companies in India are being investigated by CBI on Friday.
# The scam which has come into light is a scam of the UPA Govt. This started during UPA's reign in 2011, says Union Minister Prakash Javadekar
The scam which has come into light is a scam of the UPA Govt. This started during UPA's reign in 2011: Union Minister Prakash Javadekar #PNBFraudCase pic.twitter.com/Xy1BLur8wB
— ANI (@ANI) February 16, 2018
# 4 officials of Punjab National Bank are being examined by CBI.
# PM Modi calls PNB scam accused Mehul Choksi as ‘Mehul Bhai': Congress
# Nirav Modi & Mehul Choksi have been asked to respond within one week as to why their passports should not be impounded or revoked. If they fail to respond within the stipulated time, MEA will go ahead with the revocation.
# On the advice of the Enforcement Directorate, the Passport issuing authority in the Ministry of External Affairs has suspended the validity of passports of Nirav Modi & Mehul Choksi with immediate effect for a period of four weeks.
# Prabhavi karyawahi ho rahi hai. Jitni shigra karyavahi ho skati hai, utni hui hai: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on oppositions' allegations against BJP in
Prabhavi karyawahi ho rahi hai. Jitni shigra karyavahi ho skati hai, utni hui hai: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on oppositions' allegations against BJP in #PNBScam pic.twitter.com/Cgn7ewt4Nq
— ANI (@ANI) February 16, 2018
# CBI searches being conducted in Maharashtra's Mumbai and Pune, Gujarat's Surat, Rajasthan's Jaipur, Telangana's Hyderabad & Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore in connection with Mehul Choksi's Gitanjali Group & other directors of accused companies.
# CBI is conducting searches at 20 premises in 6 cities across 5 states, belonging to Mehul Choksi's Gitanjali Group & other directors of accused companies.
# Meanwhile, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has also registered an FIR against Mehul Choksi's Gitanjali Group of companies on the complaint of Punjab National Bank (PNB) dated 13 February 2018.
# Recapitalisation of PNB will not be impacted by fraud case, the bank will get its recapitalisation share of Rs 5000 crore, as allocated earlier: Finance Ministry Sources
# Eight more employees of Punjab National Bank suspended, the number of suspended employees now stands at 18, which also includes General Manager level officers. An internal investigation of the bank is still underway.
# PNB Fraud Case: INTERPOL's diffusion Notice issued against Nirav Modi, his wife Ami Modi, brother Nishal Modi &Mehul Choksi
#PNBFraudCase: INTERPOL's diffusion Notice issued against #NiravModi, his wife Ami Modi, brother Nishal Modi & #MehulChoksi pic.twitter.com/pwJ30jmxBy
— ANI (@ANI) February 16, 2018
Also Read: PNB fraud case: MEA suspends passports of Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi for four weeks
# State-owned Union Bank of India has said it has an exposure of USD 300 million (around Rs 1,915 crore) to the Rs 11,400-crore PNB fraud case but stressed its money is safe and it will recover that.
# Meanwhile, the shares of Punjab National Bank continued to reel under pressure for the third consecutive day after the detection of ₹ 11,400-crore fraud, slipping over 3 % in morning trade on bourses. The stock hit its 52-week low on both BSE and NSE on Friday after it opened on a bearish note and fell 3.27 % to ₹124.15 on BSE, reports PTI.
# Earlier Thursday, Congress, and BJP had traded allegations and blamed each other for over Rs 11,300 crore PNB scam case.
# Some media reports are suggesting that Nirav Modi could be in New York and not in Davos.
# The CBI and the ED has asked the external ministry to block the passport of Nirav Modi.
# Mumbai: After almost 24 hours, raids continue at Nirav Modi's boutique in Kala Ghoda.
Mumbai: After almost 24 hours, raids continue at #NiravModi's boutique in Kala Ghoda. #PNBFraudCase pic.twitter.com/eJsxnMgiPI
— ANI (@ANI) February 16, 2018
