The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday questioned former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor Harun Rashid Khan in connection with the ₹13,578 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam. The agency is likely to question another former RBI Deputy Governor, who was in-charge of the foreign exchange department for a brief period, on Monday.
Mr. Khan was appointed Deputy Governor of the RBI in July 2011 for a period of three years. His tenure was extended by another two years by the current government in 2014. He work profile included looking after the foreign exchange and internal debt management departments.
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The agency sought clarifications from Mr. Khan on alleged lapses in the statutory audits of the bank and also about the 80-20 gold import scheme, whose rules were modified in May 2014 to accommodate ‘Star/Premier’ trading houses.
The relaxed rules, introduced just days before the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government came to power, allowed such trading houses to import gold under the scheme. At least 13 trading houses, including fugitive diamond merchant Mehul Choksi’s Gitanjali Gems Limited, benefited under the modified scheme.
The changes allegedly resulted in losses to the exchequer. The discrepancies were later highlighted by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) in its 2016 report.
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