CBI sleuths grill PNB top director for second day

New Delhi: CBI sleuths for the second consecutive day examined Punjab National Bank executive director K.V. Brahmaji Rao over the Rs 11,400-crore PNB scam which allegedly involves jewellers Nirav Modi and uncle Mehul Choksi.

Sources said Mr Rao was not being treated as an accused in the banking scam case, and the examination primarily focused on understanding how the fraud was detected and other violations in the bank’s norms and procedures. Mr Rao has been in the banking sector for more than 35 years and has handled the important Mumbai zone and a few other areas.

In addition to Mr Rao, other officials from PNB are also being examined by the investigative agency which claimed none of them were accused in the case as the questioning was primarily focused on procedural lapses.

It has been revealed so far that fake guarantees, or Letter of Understanding, were issued in favour of Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi. It is alleged that as may as 293 Letters of Undertakings were issued, violating all norms, in favour of various companies of the two jewellers.

The PNB website claimed that Mr Rao primarily looked after the integrated risk management division, credit (operations), monitoring of accounts with exposure of above `50 crores, including stock audit and the Portfolio Management Service (PMS), industrial rehabilitation and action taken on borrowal frauds reported from Mumbai, where the scam took place.