CBI files charge sheet against Choksi, ex-PNB MD in USD 2 bn scam case

Gitanjali group owner Mehul Choksi and Allahabad Bank CEO Usha Ananthasubramanian along with 13 others were today charged by the CBI for alleged cheating and corruption in the issuance of fraudulent letters of undertakings worth Rs 7080.86 crore from Punjab National Bank in the country's biggest banking scam case.

In addition, three companies of Choksi -- Gitanjali Gems Ltd, Gili India Ltd and Nakshatra Brands Ltd -- have also been made accused in the charge sheet filed before a special CBI court in Mumbai, officials said.

The charge sheet pertains to a second FIR related to alleged crimes of Choksi and his companies in the series of three such cases registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the over USD 2 billion scam case in which jeweller's nephew Nirav Modi is also an accused, they said.

The agency has alleged Rs 7080.86 crore were siphoned off by Choksi and his companies using 142 letters of undertaking and 58 foreign letters of credit, the officials said.

Choksi and Modi are both absconding