PNB honchos ignored RBI warnings on Nirav Modi, says CBI charge sheet

The CBI court on Monday handed over the charge sheet to the accused arrested in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case. DNA is in possession of the charge sheet which states that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had issued a circular to the PNB with regard to the similar frauds which were committed in the year 2016, but top officials from PNB did not take a corrective measure and became a mute spectator, which caused major monetary loss to the bank.

Diamantaire Nirav Modi is accused of allegedly defrauding the PNB of Rs 6498 crore. According to CBI, Modi and Chowksi group has allegedly defrauded PNB by raising credit from overseas branches of other Indian banks using illegal guarantees with the help of several top-level PNB officials.

The charge sheet states: "A similar fraud was detected in 2016 in respect of the SWIFT transactions and the RBI had issued a circular about the same. Top level PNB officials, MD and CEO Usha Anathsubramanium, K V Brahmaji Rao, Sanjiv Sharan and Nehal Ahad were aware of this fraud involving PNB and Dubai and Indian Overseas Bank, Chandigarh. Yet they did not take any corrective action and remained a silent spectator".

Speaking about the circulars issued by RBI in order to get explanation over the misregulation of the bank's transaction, it said that the investigations conducted revealed that the RBI had issued a circular dated August 3, 2016, a caution advice dated August 10, 2016 and a circular dated November 25, 2016 to the PNB. All three circulars and caution notices were brought to the notice of Ananthasubramanium, Brahmaji Rao, Sharan and Ahad.

"The RBI had also issued urgent questionnaire dated October 27, 2016, seeking a specific response from the PNB related to SWIFT and operational procedures or measures in place for issuing LOU or LOC and as to how PNB undertakes reconciliation of SWIFT and CBS. This was dealt by the four above accused and instead of replying on the queries, Abad prepared a misleading reply dated October 31,2016 and sent the same to RBI after getting it approved by Sharam," the charge sheet said.