Commissioner tells bank, FinMin officials to submit report in 10 days.
New Delhi : The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) is the latest agency to swing into action in the Rs 11,400-crore fraud case at Punjab National Bank, allegedly involving billionaire Nirav Modi and others.
Vigilance Commissioner K V Chowdary on Monday met senior PNB officials and the finance ministry. The banks officials are understood to have shared with the CVC details of the action taken by them to deal with the fraud, sources said.
They also shared details of the action taken by the management against the officials found allegedly involved in it, the sources said.
CVC asked the PNB and Finance Ministry officials to submit a report on how the scam took place, despite monetary regulations being in place. The commission has given the bank 10 days to prepare and submit the report.
The commission has also issued a guidance note to all PSU lenders
“CVC has issued a guidance note to PSU lenders to transfer senior bank officers who have been at the same post for three years and clerical staff who have been at the same post for five years,” the sources said.
The meeting, which started at 11 am at the Commission’s office here, lasted for more than two hours, the sources said.
Besides Chowdary, Vigilance Commissioner T M Bhasin and officials from the Finance Ministry and PNB attended the meeting.
The officers from the PNB and the Finance Ministry avoided media and left the venue. The CVC chief also declined to comment on the meeting.
“This is not something that can be discussed in public,” he told reporters when asked about the meeting.
CVC is the fourth government agency after Enforcement Directorate (ED), CBI and Income Tax department which has swung into action, in the Nirav Modi fraud case. The CBI has registered two FIRs — one on January 31 and another a few days ago — against Modi, his relative Mehul Choksi of Gitanjali Gems and others for allegedly defrauding PNB of about Rs 11,400 crore.
The CVC also met a Superintendent of Police of Bank Security and Fraud Cell of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the scam, the sources said. The anti-corruption watchdog CVC exercises superintendence over the CBI in corruption-related matters.
