PNB scam: How did this go undetected, Govt asks RBI

The Central Government has sought to know how did the PNB fraud go unnoticed. While flagging doubts over the supervisory lapses in the scam, the Centre asked the RBI how did the fraud go un-detected.

The current system in place needs to be checked for efficiency, the Centre stated in a letter to RBI.

Meanwhile the Enforcement Directorate is set to attach several more properties under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act as part of its ongoing probe into the PNB scam.

The ED has conducted searches at 45 locations in 15 cities which include, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Jalandhar, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chandigarh and Lucknow.

An officer with the ED informed OneIndia that Nirav Modi had directed that the precious gems worth several thousand crores be hidden at their friends' places. He had given these instructions to his company directors and family members, the ED official also said.

The ED said that the modus operandi is now coming to light. It said that the CBI's questioning of the three accused persons arrested on Saturday too would throw more light on the scam.

The ED said that it had raided 10 places in Bengaluru, seven in Delhi and 5 in Mumbai and Kolkata. Further raids were conducted in 4 places in Chandigarh and Hyderabad, three each in Patna and Lucknow, two in Ahmedabad and one each in Chennai and Guwahati.

Raids were also conducted at Goa, Jaipur, Srinagar and Jalandhar. Meanwhile following the raids in Raipur, the ED sealed a Gitanjali Gems outlet and also seized Rs 1.27 crore.

The ED on Friday and Saturday also conducted raids at 35 and 21 locations across India respectively in connection with the case and seized diamonds, gold and jewellery worth Rs 5,674 crore. So far the ED has placed under the scanner at least 200 shell firms. Further benami assets have also come under the scanner of the ED.

OneIndia News