PNB has detected a USD 1.77 billion scam where Nirav Modi allegedly acquired fraudulent LoUs from the Brady House branch of the bank in south Mumbai to secure overseas credit from other lenders.
"We are thoroughly investigating the PNB (Punjab National Bank) fraud case. We will not spare anyone involved in it," Shukla said.
Surjewala said Ghulam Nabi Azad and Kharge have been assigned the task by the party's Steering Committee to speak to all other parties and arrive at a strategy in Parliament.
The scam has "consequences for the economy of the nation", said special CBI judge S R Tamboli, remanding them in the central agency's custody till March 3.
ED had earlier said it had arrived at the value of the assets seized based on the stock value at showrooms and stores, which was also the price at which the company purchased the goods.
Singhvi said he reserved the right to take appropriate legal action against Sitharaman and a section of the media "which carry such false and maliciously defamatory allegations".
In a tweet, the Chief Minister said that the Punjab National Bank "scam" started in 2011 and was going on till now.
Rahul Gandhi said that the scam began with the decision to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes from the economy on November 8, 2016.
The BJP fielded Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to counter the Congress charge that the scam took place in 2017 under the Modi government when the letters of understanding were signed by the Punjab National Bank in favour of Nirav Modi.
The party asked why Modi was silent on the issue and how did the agencies permit billionaire diamond merchant Nirav Modi, his uncle Mehul Choksi and others to leave India.
This arrest comes a day after Punjab National Bank's retired deputy manager Shetty and operator were named in the second FIR of CBI along with 10 directors of three private firms.
In further trouble for beleaguered jewellery designer Nirav Modi, the Income Tax Department today provisionally attached 29 properties and 105 bank accounts of the diamond merchant, his family and firms as part of its tax evasion probe.
In a statement, RBI denied giving any instructions to Punjab National Bank (PNB) to meet its commitments under the Letter of Undertaking (LOU) to other banks.
The development comes as raids are being conducted in at least 20 locations related to the Gitanjali group of companies, promoted by Nirav Modi's maternal uncle and business partner Mehul Choksi, in six cities and five states.
The official, identified as Dinesh Dubey – former Allahabad bank director, claimed that he was forced to resign from post due to pressure from the then Finance Secretary for trying to expose the scam.
ED expanded its probe from 17 to 35 locations across various cities, as it asked Modi's designer jewellery chain headquarters in Mumbai to issue a sales embargo for its overseas stores.
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