Punjab National Bank detects fraudulent transactions worth Rs 11,380 crore

The Punjab National Bank on Wednesday told the Bombay Stock Exchange that it has detected fraudulent transactions worth more than Rs 11,380 crore in a Mumbai branch. The bank said it has informed law enforcement agencies about the transactions.

“The bank has detected some fraudulent and unauthorised transactions [messages] in one of its branches in Mumbai for the benefit of a few select account holders with their apparent connivance,” the bank said in an official communication. “Based on these transactions, other banks appear to have advanced money to these customers abroad.”

The bank said it was committed to “clean and transparent banking” and that it would take a closer look at these transactions and “determine the bank’s liability”.

“In the bank, these transactions are contingent in nature and liability arising out of these on the bank shall be decided based on the law and genuineness of underlying transactions,” the statement said.

After the report, the share price of the bank – the country’s third-largest lender – slipped 10.39% to close at Rs 144.85 per share on the National Stock Exchange.

Bank files complaints against Nirav Modi

The Central Bureau of Investigation said on Wednesday that the Punjab National Bank had filed two complaints against billionaire jewellery designer Nirav Modi and a jewellery company about fraudulent transactions worth Rs 10,000 crore, PTI quoted official sources as saying.

The agency has not revealed the details of the complaint, making it unclear if the bank’s disclosure of fraudulent transactions to the Bombay Stock Exchange on Wednesday is related to this case.

The jeweller is already facing another investigation connected to the bank. On February 5, the CBI had said it was looking into whether Modi cheated the Punjab National Bank of Rs 280.7 crore in 2017.