‘Nirav aide Vipul was aware of fraud LoUs’
new delhi — Vipul Ambani, an arrested aide of fugitive billionaire Nirav Modi, knew about the fraudulent and illegal Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) issued by the Punjab National Bank in the Rs11,300 crore fraud, CBI officials said on Wednesday.
The LoUs were allegedly signed by Gokulnath Shetty, who retired as Deputy Manager of the bank in May 2017. The CBI and the Enforcement Directorate have launched a major probe and manhunt in one of the biggest financial scams in India that has shaken the country’s banking sector.
Ambani was arrested on Tuesday and is being continuously grilled by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials in Mumbai. “Ambani was fully aware of the fraudulent and illegal LoUs issued by Shetty who was a deputy manager at PNB’s Brady House branch in Mumbai. (This was being done) in conspiracy and (under the) guidance of Nirav Modi and other employees of his firm,” a senior CBI official told IANS in New Delhi.
The CBI official said the agency during its probe found that Ambani not only visited and met PNB’s officials at the Brady House branch but also met other bank officials in Mumbai and New Delhi.
The official also said that they have seized documents during searches at the office of Firestar at Peninsula Business Park in Mumbai’s Lower Parel that “prove” that Ambani knew what was being done. —