Nirav Modi says PNB acted in haste

Nirav Modi, in the eye of the storm in connection with the biggest banking scam in India’s history, said that the overzealousness of the Punjab National Bank has precipitated the crisis. In a letter written on February 15, he said the dues were also much less than what is being projected. He said he owed only Rs 5000 crore. He said he would have cleared the dues but for the overzealousness of the PNB which shut doos on his ability to clear the dues.

He also claimed that he had offered to clear the dues and that he had written to them on February 13 and 15. But, the bank was anxious to recover the dues immediately. These actions, he said, had ruined his brand and his business.Interestingly, Nirav and his family members left India much before the scam became public. They left India in January, while the scam surfaced in the second week of February.

The fraud was made public by the PNB on February 15. The PNB named Modi and his uncle Mehul Choski and some other diamond merchants as culprits.  Nirav also claimed that his companies have never defaulted to any bank and that he wanted the banks to be fair and supportive.

Meanwhile, the CBI arrested three more PNB employees in connection with the PNB fraud. They were arrested on charges of colluding with Nirav Modi and Mehul Choski by issuing fraudulent LoUs.The Government also rapped the Reserve Bank of India for supervisionary failure.