PNB fraud: CBI arrests former bank official Gokulnath Shetty, Nirav Modi group's authorised signatory

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday arrested former Deputy Manager of Punjab National Bank (PNB) and the authorised signatory of Nirav Modi group of firms in connection with the fraud with the bank. 

State-owned PNB has been rocked by Rs 11,400 crore fraud involving billionaire diamond jeweller Nirav Modi who allegedly acquired fraudulent letters of undertaking (LoUs) from a branch in Mumbai to secure overseas credit from other Indian lenders. 

The CBI has arrested Gokulnath Shetty (retired DGM of PNB), bank's Single Window Operator Manoj Kharat and Hemant Bhat, the authorised signatory of the Nirav Modi Group of Firms.

They will be produced today before CBI special court in Mumbai.

Modi, 46, a regular feature on the lists of rich and famous Indians since 2013, was booked by the CBI, along with wife, brother and Choksi on January 31, for allegedly cheating the state-run PNB to the tune of Rs 280 crore.

The bank subsequently sent two more complaints to the CBI on Tuesday, saying the scam was worth more than Rs 11,400 crore.

The jewellery designer is understood to be a citizen of the country but his brother Nishal and wife Ami are not Indian nationals. They all left India between January 1 and 6, the CBI had said. 

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate has seized diamonds and jewels over Rs 549 crore in fresh raids.

The agency expanded its probe from 17 to 35 locations across various cities, as it asked Modi's designer jewellery chain headquarters in Mumbai to issue a sales embargo for its overseas stores in Macau, Beijing, New York and London, pending investigation.

On Friday, the CBI registered a fresh FIR against Gitanjali Group promoter Mehul Choksi in connection with alleged fraud in the issuance of Letters of Understanding.

The accused in the new FIR include Choksi (Managing Director Gitanjali Gems), Gokulnath Shetty (retired DGM of PNB), Manoj Kharat (then single window officer of PNB), and companies -- Gitanjali Gems Ltd , Gili India Ltd, Nakshatra Brand Ltd, directors of the companies Krishnan Sangameshwaran, Nazura Yash Ajaney, Dinesh Gopaldas Bhatia, Aniyath Shivraman Nair and Dhanesh Vrajlal Sheth.

The CBI has alleged that the new FIR pertains to 143 LOUs worth over Rs 4,886 crore fraudulently issued to three companies of Choksi -- Gitanjali Gems, Nakshatra and Gili -- during the period 2017-18, they said. The agency had earlier registered a separate case involving Rs 280-crore fraud, which has now been expanded to cover LoUs worth Rs 6,498 crore issued to accused companies of Nirav Modi and Choksi.