CBI probing another ₹5,280 crore loan taken by Mehul Choksi, companies

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday said that it is probing another loan worth Rs 5,280 crore taken by Mehul Choksi and his companies from a consortium of 31 banks led by ICICI Bank. The probe is part of the existing FIR filed against Choksi and his Gitanjali Group, CBI added.

However, the probe is different from the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud already unearthed, the investigative agency said.

In a separate development, CBI has questioned two officials of Canara Bank (Bahrain branch) and one Bank of India (BOI) official of Antwerp (Belgium) in the PNB scam, news agency ANI reported.

The two diamond merchants (Nirav Modi and Choksi) are accused of availing credit from overseas banks using fraudulent guarantees made in collusion with PNB employees in what is regarded as the biggest fraud in the Indian banking system.

Both the businessmen left the country with their families in the first week of January this year.

A special CBI court here issued a non-bailable warrant on Wednesday against diamond merchant Mehul Choksi, one of the key accused in the multi-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) loan fraud.

Special judge SR Tamboli allowed the plea moved by the CBI prosecutor A Limosine in this regard.

Limosine told the court that the agency had sent three summonses to Choksi on his email id, however, he has neither responded to them nor appeared before the agency.

The prosecution said there was "every reason to believe" that Choksi had fled the country and is in hiding, and that steps are being taken to secure his presence by issuance of red corner notice by the Interpol.

"...to secure his presence and to pursue the same, an open non-bailable warrant is required against Choksi," Limosine told the court.

It is alleged that the Lous (Letter of Undertaking) and LCS (Letter of Credit) worth close to USD 2 billion were issued to the companies of accused Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi from the Brady Road branch of the PNB in Mumbai through SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) messages.

These messages were allegedly not entered in the banking software of the PNB to bypass surveillance.

Several bank employees have been booked for collusion in the case.

The CBI court had last week issued a non-bailable warrant against Nirav Modi.

Both Choksi and Nirav Modi have been booked in two cases each related to the bank fraud under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and the Indian Penal Code.