PNB fraud is a UPA scam, former Finance Secretary forced whistleblower Dinesh Dubey to resign: Prakash Javadekar

Seeking to attack Congress and the UPA over the PNB fraud case, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar called the scam a ‘UPA scam’ which started in 2011, and said that the alertness of the NDA govt had  brought the scam to light.

He said: “The scam which has come into light is a scam of the UPA Govt. This started during UPA's reign in 2011. 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.”

He alleged that the Finance Secretary of UPA’s regime had forced former Allahabad Bank Director Dinesh Dubey to resign. He added: “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? This is a banking fraud, which is being investigated. We are making sure that the money is recovered.”

He added: “Finance Secretary during UPA's regime, instead of taking action, forced Dinesh Dubey to resign. We are asking who pressurised the Finance Secretary to pressurise Dinesh Dubey.”

Dinesh Dubey, former Allahabad Bank director, said that he had sent a dissent note against Gitanjali Gems to the government and the RBI in 2013 but to no avail. 

Finance Secretary during UPA's regime, instead of taking action, forced Dinesh Dubey to resign. We are asking who pressurised the Finance Secretary to pressurise Dinesh Dubey?: Union Minister Prakash Javadekar pic.twitter.com/sJiJUSS5kD

— ANI (@ANI) February 16, 2018

''I had sent a dissent note against Gitanjali Gems to the government and RBI in 2013 but to no avail, I was directed that this loan has to be approved, I was being pressurized so I resigned,'' Dinesh Dubey was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

The external affairs ministry today suspended with immediate effect the passports of diamantaire Nirav Modi and his business partner Mehul Choksi for four weeks.

The ministry gave them one week to respond why their passports should not be revoked.

"If they fail to respond within the stipulated time it will be assumed that they have no response to offer and the MEA will go ahead with the revocation," the ministry said in a statement.

Announcing the suspension, the MEA statement said,"On the advice of the Enforcement Directorate, the passport issuing authority in the MEA has today suspended the validity of passports of Nirav Deepak Modi and Mehul Chinubhai Choksi with immediate effect for a period of four weeks u/s 10(A) of the Passports Act 1967." They have been asked to respond within one week why their passports should not be impounded or revoked under Section 10 (3) (c) of the Passports Act 1967, it said.

Punjab National Bank (PNB), which is at the centre of India's biggest banking fraud, has suspended eight more officials, including one at general manager level, for their suspected involvement in the multi-crore scam, a senior government official said.

The official also said that PNB will repay other banks their dues by March 31 and would be funded from internal resources.
On Wednesday, 10 bank employees had been suspended after the bank reported fraudulent transactions of more than Rs 11,300 crore to stock exchanges.

The fraud, in which diamond jewelery designer Nirav Modi allegedly acquired fraudulent letters of undertaking (LoUs) from one its branches for overseas credit from other Indian lenders, is being probed by CBI and Enforcement Directorate among other agencies.

"Eight more officials of the bank have been suspended, including one at the general manager level," the official said, adding the total number of officers suspended for suspected involvement is 18.
He said PNB will settle liabilities towards other banks by March end and no further capital infusion would be needed as these would be funded from internal resources.

In banking parlance LoU is a guarantee issued by one bank to branches of other banks, based on which overseas branches offer credit to borrowers.

"The investigations are on as to how much credit has been given on account of the LoUs. The bank will fulfil its liabilities based on the investigation report," the official said.
In January the government had announced it would infuse Rs 5,473 crore into PNB in current fiscal.
The official further said that the bank would now initiate probe in 36-related accounts to recover further dues.