Nirav Modi, at the centre of a ₹11,500 crore banking fraud , has said the Punjab National Bank’s overzealousness has shut the doors on his ability to clear the dues, which he claimed were much lower than the amount stated by the bank.
In a letter to the PNB management, a copy of which PTI has seen, Mr. Modi has pegged the amount that his companies owe the bank at under ₹5,000 crore.
Media frenzy
“The erroneously cited liability resulted in a media frenzy which led to immediate search and seizure of operations, and which in turn resulted in Firestar International and Firestar Diamond International effectively ceasing to be going-concerns. This jeopardised our ability to discharge the dues of the group to the banks,” said Mr. Modi, who left the country along with his family in the first week of January.
“In the anxiety to recover your dues immediately, despite my offer [on February 13, a day before the public announcement, and on 15,] your actions have destroyed my brand and the business and have now restricted your ability to recover all the dues leaving a trail of unpaid debts,” he said.
Talks with bank
The letter also refers to the extended discussions between him, and between his representatives and the bank officers and also his emails on February 13 and 15, 2018.
He goes on to state that the PNB had time and again acknowledged that “the buyers credit facility has been extended by it to the three partnership firms since several years; that there has been no default on the part of any of these firms over all these years...”
