PNB scam: US State Department says it cannot confirm whether Nirav Modi is in the country

The United States government on Friday said it was aware of media reports claiming that jeweller Nirav Modi was in the country, but said it was unable to confirm it, PTI reported.

A US State Department spokesperson told the news agency to ask the Department of Justice whether the US was helping Indian authorities in the investigation into Modi. The Department of Justice has declined to comment.

Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi are accused of defrauding the Punjab National Bank of Rs 12,703 crore in one of India’s largest bank scams. The bank had initially said the amount was around Rs 11,380, but it revealed additional fraud of Rs 1,323 crore in a stock exchange filing later.

Meanwhile, a US court has passed an interim order preventing creditors from collecting debt from Modi’s Firestar Diamond Inc after it filed for bankruptcy.

Arrests in India

Bishnubrata Mishra, who worked at PNB’s Brady House branch as internal chief auditor earlier, was on Friday sent to CBI’s custody till March 14. He was arrested on Thursday. He was said to be responsible for the concurrent audit during 2011-2015 at the branch.

His arrest came a day after the arrest of another former senior executive of Punjab National Bank, who was remanded in police custody till March 13.

On Thursday, the Central Bureau of Investigation claimed to have recovered Letters of Undertaking documents from a chawl, PTI reported. The CBI said the documents were hidden in a small room in Mumbai’s Wadala area. The room is believed to belong to Modi, but was not in his company’s name.

The developments came just days after Modi refused to appear before the CBI for questioning, saying he has business to take care of abroad. The CBI then asked him to approach the Indian mission in whichever country he is in so arrangements can be made to bring him to India.