PNB fraud: Key accused remanded in CBI custody till March 17

MUMBAI: A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court has remanded former PNB bank official Gokulnath Shetty, a key accused, in police custody till Saturday. Shetty was in judicial custody so far, however, CBI counsel sought his police custody on grounds that fresh evidence has come to light and Shetty needs to be confronted with the new documents.

CBI counsel A Limosin, while seeking Shetty’s custody, told the court that an additional amount of ₹942.18 crore was added to the amount of fraud done towards Punjab National Bank (PNB) taking the total amount to ₹7,080 crore. The submission was made before the court first on Tuesday.

Shetty, then deputy manager of PNB’s Brady House branch, is accused of working in connivance with the other accused directors of Mehul Choksi’s firms Gitanjali Gems Ltd, Gili India Ltd, Nakshatra Brand Ltd and Asmi Jewellery India Ltd to issue unauthorized and fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LOUs).

Shetty is a key accused in the case as between 2011 and 2015, he allegedly issued more than 100 fraudulent Letter of Undertakings (LOUs), as per the CBI’s case.

The CBI counsel submitted that they have 51 searches at the companies and seized thousands of documents, which they need Shetty to confront with the newly-seized evidence. The central agency also said, “there is every reason to believe that he (Shetty) along with Choksi is the brain behind the conspiracy.”

Judge S R Tamboli asked the CBI for the progress in the case when the central agency’s advocates informed the court those more incriminating documents needs to be recovered and to identify other accused both within PNB and outside.