CBI questions 10 PNB officials, 18 employees of Nirav Modi, Gitanjali group

The CBI on Tuesday questioned 10 Punjab National Bank (PNB) officials, including an Executive Director, and 18 employees of Nirav Modi and Gitanjali group of firms in Rs 114 billion bank fraud case.

A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team also conducted raids at diamantaire Nirav Modi's Alibaug farmhouse near Mumbai which has a palatial bungalow, an official said.

Apart from questioning of Mumbai-based PNB's Brady house branch employees, eight staffs and associates of Nirav Modi group of companies comprising two Chief Financing Officers - Ravi Gupta and Vipul Ambani, President Foreign Finance Division Saurabh Sharma and Finance Executive Subhash Parab were also examined.

The CBI also questioned 10 employees of Gitanjali group of firms - Gitanjali Gems Ltd, Gili India Ltd and Nakshatra Brands Ltd.

Gitanjali group of companies and its India-based 18 subsidiaries are headed by Mehul C. Choksi who is accused along with his nephew Nirav Modi in the multi-crore PNB fraud.

"Most of the PNB and Nirav Modi company's employees were also questioned for over eight hours on Monday," the CBI official said.

The central probe agency also said to have seized some significant documents from the Navi Mumbai, Andheri and Dombivli residences of three PNB officials who were arrested on Monday.

The CBI had raided these places on Monday night after the arrest of Brady house branch's Chief Manager Bechu B. Tewari and two of his colleagues Yashwant Joshi, Scale II Manager (Forex department) and Praful Sawant, Scale I officer (Export) after their day long questioning.