PNB fraud: Interpol asked to issue RCN against Nirav Modi's brother, another

The CBI has approached the Interpol to issue Red Corner Notice (RCN) against diamantiare Nirav Modi's brother Nishal and one of his executives in connection with its probe into the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud, sources said on Wednesday.

"The agency has approached Interpol to issue RCN against Nirav Modi's brother Nishal, who is a Belgian national, and his executive Subhash Parab," said a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official.

The agency's action comes two days after it sent a request to Interpol to issue a RCN against Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi of the Gitanjali Group.

A RCN is a request to locate and provisionally arrest an individual pending extradition. It is issued by the General Secretariat at the request of a member country or an international tribunal based on a valid national arrest warrant.

The CBI has named Nirav Modi, Nishal and Parab beside 18 others in the first chargesheet that it filed in a Special court in Mumbai on May 14 in the case.

The CBI has also named PNB's former MD Usha Ananthasubramanian in its chargesheet in the scam.

The CBI had filed three FIRs between January and March to probe the PNB fraud. Most of the accused are common to these cases. The fraud was committed during 2011-17 by illegally issuing Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) and Foreign Letters of Credit (FLCs).

The CBI, in its first chargesheet had alleged that Nirav Modi, through his companies, siphoned off funds to the tune of Rs 6,498.20 crore using fraudulent LoUs issued from PNB's Brady House branch in Mumbai. Meanwhile, Choksi allegedly swindled Rs 7080.86 crore.

Nirav Modi left the country along with his family in the first week of January, weeks before the scam was reported to the CBI.

His wife Ami, a US citizen, left on January 6 and uncle Choksi on January 4.

--IANS

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