Bank issued over 41k LoUs since 2011

Scam-hit Punjab National Bank had issued as many as 41,178 Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) since 2011, of which 1,590 were given to Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and their associates, the finance ministry has said. In a written reply to the House on March 20, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that PNB has apprised that 7,672 LoUs were issued with validity of 90 days, 20,078 LoUs were issued with validity of 180 days, 11,224 LoUs were issued with validity of 365 days, and 2,204 LoUs were issued with validity of more than 365 days.

Meanwhile, the Interpol has sought additional information from the ED about diamond traders Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi in connection with the PNB scam, as part of the process to issue a Red Corner Notice (RCN) against them.

Official sources said the global police body asked the central probe agency why it wanted an arrest warrant against the duo.

They said the agency replied to the international police that the two are required for taking forward the criminal probe launched by it against them on money laundering charges, and not for a court trial.

PNB has witnessed losses to the tune of Rs 14,500 crore due to fraud so far in this fiscal, Parliament was informed. “PNB has apprised that the total loss reported by it due to frauds was Rs 341.03 crore in the financial year (FY) 2015-16, Rs 2,633.82 crore in FY 2016-17, and Rs 14,506.39 crore (including contingent liability) in FY 2017-18 (till date)," Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla said.