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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

CBI grills GM, gets remand of four accused till March 17

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NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday said it questioned a General Manager of the Treasury Division of Punjab National Bank (PNB) in connection with its ongoing probe into Rs 12,600-crore bank fraud case involving diamond jeweller Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi of Gitanjali Group.


“The agency officials today (Monday) questioned S K Chand, who is a GM of the bank, in connection with the case,” a CBI official said here.


The official also informed that a court in Mumbai sent four accused arrested on Sunday to the agency’s custody till March 17.


Two of the four arrested accused are from Nirav Modi’s firm, one is an auditor and one an employee of the Gitanjali Group.


The CBI arrested Manish K Bosamiya, then AGM (Operation), and Miten Anil Pandya, then Finance Manager — both of Firestarter International Ltd of Nirav Modi, for their alleged role in preparation of applications for the fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) submitted to the PNB.


The third arrested person — Sanjay Rambhia, a partner in CA firm Sampat and Mehta of Mumbai — was an internal auditor of Nirav Modi’s companies, while the fourth — Aniyath Shiv Raman Nair — was then Director of Gili India Ltd.


According to CBI officials, it was alleged that Nair, besides being one of the directors of the Gitanjali Group was also the authorised signatory for the applications made to the PNB for issuance of purported LoUs and letters of credit.


The CBI has to date arrested 18 persons in the case so far.


Modi along with Choksi has


been accused of defrauding the PNB of Rs 12,600 crore, with Rs 1,300 crore being added to the fraud kitty last Monday.


The CBI had filed the first FIR in the scam on February 14 against Nirav Modi, his wife Ami, brother Nishal, uncle Choksi and his firms Diamond R US, Solar Exports and Stellar Diamond.


Modi, his family and Choksi left the country in early January.


The CBI filed a second FIR on February 15 for a Rs 4,886.72-crore fraud against Choksi’s Gitanjali Group.


Till date, the Enforce Directorate has carried out searches at over 198 locations across the country and seized properties worth nearly Rs 6,000 crore.


Lok Sabha adjourned: The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day on Monday following uproar over several issues including the multi-crore PNB fraud, demand for special status to Andhra Pradesh and demand for increasing quota beyond 50 per cent in Telangana.


After the house met at 12 pm, following its earlier adjournment, opposition members from several parties including the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) were on their feet raising different issues.


Several members, including those from TDP and TRS, were displaying placards.


The papers were laid on the table of the House amid din. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan announced that she had accepted resignation of Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party leader Neiphiu Rio as a member of the House with effect from February 22.


As the sloganeering continued, Mahajan adjourned the house for the day.


Earlier when the House met in the morning for its first sitting of the second half of budget session, similar protests were witnessed.


Trinamool Congress and Left raised slogans in protest against the alleged bank fraud amounting to over Rs 12,600 crore by jewellery designer Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi who have fled the country.


TDP MPs protested seeking special category status to Andhra Pradesh.


— IANS


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