Fraud case: CBI names top PNB officials in second charge sheet
Allahabad Bank CEO Usha Ananthasubramanian among 18 named by the probe agency
MUMBAI:A retired deputy general manager of Punjab National Bank (PNB) and an accused in the massive PNB scam received ₹1.02 crore from Gitanjali Exports in kickbacks for issuing fraudulent letters of undertaking (LoUs), which are quasi bank guarantees used to raise money from overseas branches of other banks.
The claim against Gokulnath Shetty was made by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the second charge sheet filed by the agency before a sessions court in Mumbai on Wednesday.
The CBI charge sheet names 18 persons as accused in the second case registered by the agency against jeweller Mehul Choksi , owner of the Gitanjali group of companies, Allahabad Bank CEO and MD Usha Ananthasubramanian , and others in connection with the PNB fraud. The chargesheet, which runs into around 12,000 pages, focuses on the process of how the employees of the bank facilitated issuance of LoUs to the company.
The charge sheet filed on Wednesday covers only 12 transactions worth ₹512 crores out of all transactions worth ₹7,080 crore by Choksi and his firms. The agency has now sought permission to continue the probe in connection with the other transactions and companies located out of the country.
CBI claimed that it managed to get evidence on the gratification received by Shetty, who was the deputy branch manager at the Brady House, Mumbai, branch of PNB. Shetty is accused of having
issued LoUs and foreign letters of credit (FLCs) without following the prescribed procedure for various companies including those promoted by Choksi and Nirav Modi, the principal suspects in the scam. The agency claims that to issue LoUs and FLCs, Shetty received gratification in cash as well as by cheque.
The agency said in the charge sheet, “Shetty during the period of 2015 to 2018 debited an aggregate amount of ₹2.28 crores to the account of M/s Gitanjali Exports Corporation Ltd, maintained with PNB, MCB Brady house in which Choksi is the managing director and authorised signawitness
tory. The amount was debited to the account of Debajyoti Dutta, proprietor of M/s Rishika Financialsm towards arranger fees for the quotes obtained by him for the accused companies for issuance of LoUs.”
Dutta, who has been cited as a
by the agency, worked as a middleman in the transaction, CBI claimed. “Out of ₹2.28 crore debited to the account of Dutta, Shetty compelled him to part with an aggregate sum of ₹1,02,53,664 as illegal gratification for himself by way of cheques favouring himself and his family members.”
During the investigation, the central agency claimed to have found that Shetty had used the money to buy houses. The officer claimed that Shetty had bought a house in a luxurious society where his family is residing presently. Apart from that, Shetty also bought a second home in Thane of the value of ₹2.9 crore.
THE CHARGE SHEET FILED COVERS ONLY 12 TRANSACTIONS WORTH ₹512 CRORE OUT OF ALL TRANSACTIONS WORTH ₹7,080 CRORE BY CHOKSI AND HIS FIRMS