NEW DELHI: Punjab National Bank (PNB) Managing Director (MD) Sunil Mehta on Thursday said that the bank’s Rs 11,300 crore scam had started back in 2011 and it was detected on January 3 this year.
“We detected the fraud on January 3. We got to know that 2 of our employees did some un-authorised transactions. The bank intiated criminal action against our staff members,” he said.
Briefing the media on the mega scam in its MC Brady House branch in Mumbai, Mehta said that the bank lodged a complaint with the CBI on January 29, following which the investigation agency registered a FIR on the next day. “In response to our registered FIR, raids are being conducted on involved groups and establishments, documents and records are being seized,” he said.
Earlier in the day, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered a money laundering case against diamond merchant Nirav Modi and his relatives along with others and raided over dozen premises across the country connected to them. The premises raided by the ED includes Modi’s residence in Kurla, his jewellery boutique in Kala Ghoda area, three company locations in Bandra and Lower Parel, three premises in Surat in Gujarat and Modi’s showrooms in Chanakyapuri and Defence Colony in Delhi.
Mehta reposed confidence in PNB saying that the bank has ‘capability and capacity’ to overcome the crisis. However, he said that Modi has so far not come up with any concrete plan to repay PNB.
Mehta also tried to assuage fears of a domino effect of the scam. “This is a standalone incident. It has taken place only in one of our branches,” he said.
Mehta also said that steps are being taken to protect financial interest of banks adding that the government too is monitoring the situation in a ‘day-to-day’ basis.
