Allahabad Bank divests its CEO Usha Ananthasubramanian of all powers

The Board of state-owned Allahabad Bank today divested its MD and CEO Usha Ananthasubramanian of all powers with immediate effect, following a directive from the finance ministry after she was named in the CBI's chargesheet in PNB fraud case.

Ananthasubramanian, was the CMD of Punjab National Bank till May 2017.

Yesterday, the finance ministry had asked the boards of Allahabad Bank and PNB to take action against Ananthasubramanian and two executive directors of PNB.

The PNB had yesterday divested its two executive directors of all powers.

"...the Board of Directors of the Bank in its meeting held on date has decided that Smt Usha Ananthasubramanian, MD & CEO be divested of all functional responsibilities of the Bank with immediate effect...," Allahabad Bank said in a regulatory filing.

It further asked the government to make suitable arrangements for smooth functioning of the bank.

The CBI yesterday filed its first chargesheet in the PNB fraud case detailing the roles of Nirav Modi, his brother Nishal Modi and Subhash Parab, an executive in Nirav Modi's company.

Meanwhile, PNB today said that its total liability works out to Rs 14,356.84 crore on account of the fraud allegedly carried out by jewellery designer Nirav Modi and associates.

The fraud was detected at PNB's Brady House branch in Mumbai involving certain accounts under 'gems and jewellery' sector wherein, through apparent connivance between "these entities and few employees of the bank", some LoUs/FLCs were issued fraudulently to certain overseas branches of Indian banks through misuse of the SWIFT messaging system.