CVC meets PNB officials, seeks report on why fraud remained hidden

NEW DELHI: Central Vigilance Commission’s (CVC) chief KV Chowdary on Monday met senior officials of Punjab National Bank (PNB) to enquire how the ₹11,400 crore fraud, allegedly involving jewellery designer Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, went undetected for almost seven years.

The meeting of the PNB top management with Chowdary and vigilance commissioner TM Bhasin lasted for almost two hours. Finance ministry officials were also present in the meeting. The chief vigilance commissioner and his colleague asked the PNB to submit a report in this regard, said a person familiar with the discussions who asked not to be named.

“The CVC asked about non-linking of the Core Banking System of the bank with the SWIFT system (a messaging system used for inter-bank transactions) at PNB,” the person said.

The CBI has said that due to non-linking of Core Banking system with the SWIFT system, bank officials in connivance with Nirav Modi’s companies managed to perpetuate the alleged fraud and keep it hidden.

The bank officials informed the CVC about the action taken after the detection of fraud and the steps taken against officials who did not perform their supervisory roles, said the person.

Besides meeting the PNB and finance ministry officials, the CVC also met a superintended of police of Bank Security and Fraud Cell of the CBI.