Gitanjali Group cheated PNB of Rs 48.86 bn, says CBI after filing fresh FIR

The CBI on Friday registered a fresh FIR against the Gitanjali Group promoted by Mehul Choksi, uncle of billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi, following a complaint from Punjab National Bank, and also approached the Interpol to locate them.

Officials said the fresh FIR was based on a complaint from the PNB dated February 13. According to it, the alleged loss to PNB was over Rs 48.86 billion, they said.

The agency on Friday also carried out searches on the premises of the Gitanjali Group at 20 places in Mumbai, Pune, Surat, Jaipur, Hyderabad and Coimbatore.

"Searches are at locations belonging to Gitanjali group of Mehul Choksy, other directors of the accused companies and other group factories and plants including offices, factories and residences," a CBI spokesperson said here today.

It is alleged that the accused PNB officials in conspiracy with private persons sent unauthorised Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) and Foreign Letters of Credit to overseas branches of Indian banks for release of funds to accused companies' suppliers or to clear liabilities of accused companies.

The officials also said the central agency approached the Interpol with a request for issuing Diffusion Notice which was aimed at locating an individual.

"This (diffusion) is less formal than a notice but is also used to request the arrest or location of an individual or additional information in relation to a police investigation. A diffusion is circulated directly by an NCB (CBI in this case) to the member countries of their choice, or to the entire INTERPOL membership and is simultaneously recorded in Interpols Information System," the website of Interpol says.

The CBI was confident about getting a location of Modi and his family by today, they said.

Modi, who was alleged to have carried out fraudulent transactions worth over Rs 11,400 crore in PNB, had left the country in the first week of January.

The 46-year old, who holds an Indian passport, left India on January 1, while his brother Nishal, a Belgian citizen, departed from the country on same day. However, whether they travelled together has to be probed, they said.

Modi's wife Ami, a US citizen, left on January 6 and his business Mehul Choksi left on January 4, the officials said.

The CBI and the Enforcement Directorate have approached the government seeking revocation of passports of Modi and Choksi.

The billionaire diamond merchant, a regular on the lists of rich and famous Indians since 2013, was booked by the CBI, along with wife, brother and Choksi on January 31, for allegedly cheating the state-run PNB to the tune of Rs 280 crore.

The bank again approached the CBI within a fortnight of the first complaint giving details of more transactions which were over Rs 11,400 crore.

The question as to why the PNB did not send a complaint to the CBI and decided to give it in tranches is also under the scanner of the agency, they said.

The bank has claimed in three complaints to the CBI that so far it has detected 150 Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) which were fraudulently issued by its officials in connivance with Modi and the other accused in the case, the officials said.

An LoU is a letter of comfort issued by one bank to branches of other banks, based on which foreign branches offer credit to buyers.