PNB fraud: CBI questions 3 officials from Indian banks' branches abroad

In the latest development in the multi-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday questioned two Canara Bank officials from the Bahrain branch and one Bank of India official from the Antwerp branch in Belgium.

On a related note, the CBI on Sunday had issued a Non-Bailable Warrant (NBW) against celebrity jeweller Nirav Modi and his uncle and business partner, Mehul Choksi, in connection with the PNB scam.

The PNB in February detected the multi-crore scam, wherein Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi had allegedly cheated the bank to the tune of Rs 114 billion, with the purported involvement of a few employees of the bank.

The scam, which reportedly began in 2011, was detected in the third week of January this year, after which the PNB officials reported it to the concerned agencies.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered a money laundering case against Modi and others on the basis of a CBI First Information Report (FIR).

Currently, the probe agencies are investigating the matter and have also seized many properties of both Modi and Choksi.