The mumbai wing of the Serious Fraud Investigation Office has summoned ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and Axis Bank CEO Shikha Sharma in the Rs 5,000 crore loan extended to Mehul Choksi’s Gitanjali Gems. The summons sent to both Kocchar and Sharma requests them to appear in person or send a representative.
Almost 31 banks are a part of a consortium which had given Rs 5,280 crore working capital facility extended to Choksi’s companies of which ICICI Bank is the lead lender. People in the know also indicated that the fraud office may soon summon other banks who are part of the consortium.
Investigative agencies are probing all loans and facilities extended to Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi and their associate companies in the Rs 12000 crore fraud which hit Punjab National Bank last month.
Both Choksi and Modi have fled the country before the fraud emerged at the end of January. Now, Nirav Modi’s associate companies have filed a bankruptcy petition in the US court seeking respite.
In its bankruptcy filing in New York, Firestar said liquidity and supply chain challenges were responsible for the insolvency. The company has also listed about $100 million in assets and debt as per the Chapter 11 documents.
PNB informed the stock exchanges last week that the quantum of fraud in the case could exceed the Rs 11,400 crore figure it had disclosed on February 14 by more than Rs 1,300 crore, taking it to Rs 12,700 crore.
The bank went public with the alleged fraud that has been going on since 2010 at the Brady House branch of the bank in Mumbai earlier this month. It came to light after an employee who was said to be wrongfully rolling over letters of undertaking (LoUs) retired. As many as 30 banks discounted the bills based on PNB’s LoUs.
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