E-Paper
CBI registers third FIR in PNB fraud, says Nirav Modi cheated bank of Rs 322 cr
The probe agency stated that Nirav Modi and two of his firms defrauded the bank of around Rs 322 crore by misusing sanctioned credit limits.
The CBI has registered its third FIR in the Punjab National Bank fraud, alleging that diamond trader Nirav Modi and his two companies cheated the financial institution of around Rs 322 crore by misusing sanctioned credit limits.
These credit limits were provided to Modi’s firms – Firestar International Limited and Firestar Diamonds International Limited – between 2013 and 2017.
Besides Modi, the agency has named two top Firestar International executives – president (finance) Vipul Ambani and chief financial officer Ravi Shankar Gupta – as the accused in the case on the basis of a fresh complaint received by the agency on March 4. The agency raided Firestar’s premises after the FIR was registered, a person familiar with the matter said.
HT has seen the FIR.
In its complaint to the CBI, the bank said it noticed circular transactions between Firestar International and Firestar Diamonds International with other Modi-owned firms that have been accused of being issued letters of undertaking (LoUs) in a fraudulent manner.
On January 31, the agency had registered an FIR pertaining to LoUs worth over Rs 6,400 crore against the diamond trader. The second FIR relates to the issuance of LoUs and foreign letters of credit to firms owned by Mehul Choksi, Modi’s maternal uncle. It arrested about 18 people – bank officials as well as executives from firms headed by Modi and Choksi – in this connection.
