The Central Vigilance Commission has sought detailed reports from the Punjab National Bank (PNB) and the Finance Ministry on the ₹11,200-crore scam that has rocked the Indian banking sector. The report has to be submitted in 10 days, according to those aware of Monday’s meeting.
Central Vigilance Commissioner K.V. Chowdary chaired the meeting attended by senior officials of the PNB and the Ministry. Sources said he had instructed the officials to identify those responsible for the scam, in which the PNB kept issuing Letters of Undertaking (LoU) on behalf of diamond companies controlled by Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi.
Among the questions raised during the meeting was why was the SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications) transactions not linked to the core banking software (CBS) of the PNB.
Missed warnings
If the SWIFT transactions of the PNB were linked to its CBS, then it would have thrown up repeated warnings in case of such large number of LoUs, officials said.
The CVC reviewed the progress of the case with the Central Bureau of Investigation, which is carrying out investigation into the criminal conspiracy behind the bank frauds.
The CBI has two FIRs in the case, in which diamond merchants Nirav Modi, his uncle Mehul Choksi of Gitanjali Gems and others are accused of defrauding PNB of about ₹11,400 crore.
The CVC had clarified that the PNB’s Chief Vigilance Officer was given award only for “timely completion of disciplinary proceedings” in 2016. He had the best disposal rate of 92%, the CVC said.
