PNB Fraud: Nirmala Sitharaman says Rahul Gandhi attended event hosted by Gitanjali Gems

On Saturday, senior BJP leader and Raksha Mantri Nirmala Sitharaman sprung to the Centre’s defence over criticism from several quarters over the PNB fraud case.

She said that the ‘entire might of the government’ had been invoked to pin the culprit Niravi Modi immediately after it came to light. She also said that Rahul Gandhi had attended an event hosted by Gitanjali Gems on September 13, 2013, whose managing director Mehul Choksi is Nirav Modi’s business partner and maternal uncle.

She said that Gitanjali gems had been suspended for six months from doing business on NSE in 2013.

She went on to say that the Fire Star Diamond International Private Limited, one of the companies of Nirav Modi had been acquired from Advait Holdings. She claimed that one of the shareholders of Advait Holdings since 2002 was Anita Singhvi, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi’s wife.

The Congress today held the BJP responsible for the Rs 11,400-crore Punjab National Bank scam involving jewellery designer Nirav Modi and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of institutionalising “crony capitalism”.

Congress leader Kapil Sibal accused the prime minister and his government of bringing the economy to its knees, and warned that the country’s image would get a beating internationally under him.

He also took a dig at Modi, alleging that while he was “sleeping” as the country’s watchman, thieves were fleeing with the nation’s wealth.

Quoting the second FIR filed by the CBI in the case, the Congress leader said that all letters of understanding (LoUs) to the accused were signed in 2017 under the NDA government, which failed to prevent the scam from happening.

Addressing a joint press conference with Congress communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala, Shaktisinh Gohil and Pawan Khera, Sibal sought to know why Modi refused to divulge details of all those people who accompanied him during his foreign tours.

“Is this the kind of ‘Ease of Doing Business’ PM Modi talks about?” he asked.

“I challenge BJP to come and talk about UPA’s governance and their governance. Because of their ill-intentions, they have brought India’s economy to its knees,” he told reporters.

Sibal, a former minister and noted lawyer, accused the Prime Minister’s office and the finance ministry of turning a blind eye to the multi-crore bank scam, saying they were very much aware of it.

“They were aware of all this. But they turned a blind eye. They were aware that the country was being looted,” he alleged.

Sibal also questioned why the HRD Minister and the Social Justice Minister were fielded by the government to defend it on the matter.

“What does a HRD Minister have to do with this? Is the minister very admiring of the quality of the human resource of Nirav Modi? What is the Social Justice Minister have to do with this? What has the Law Ministry to do with this scam?” he asked and said neither the finance ministry nor the RBI has come forward to answer questions.

He also alleged that the market capitalisation of listed companies in the gems and jewellery business is pegged at Rs 41.66 billion, while its gross current debt stands at Rs 94 billion.

“This means that the debt is twice the market capitalisation and that is a scam in itself. Who can say that the government did not know this,” he asked.

Nirav Modi, 46, a regular feature on the lists of rich and famous Indians since 2013, was booked by the CBI, along with wife, brother and Choksi on January 31, for allegedly cheating the state-run PNB to the tune of Rs 280 crore.

The bank subsequently sent two more complaints to the CBI on Tuesday, saying the scam was worth more than Rs 11,400 crore.

The jewellery designer is understood to be a citizen of the country but his brother Nishal and wife Ami are not Indian nationals. They all left India between January 1 and 6, the CBI had said.

The CBI has arrested two officials of Punjab National Bank, including a now retired deputy manager, and an authorised signatory of billionaire Nirav Modi’s company in connection with alleged fraudulent transactions of Rs 11,400 crore, officials said.

Gokulnath Shetty, then deputy manager (now retired), Manoj Kharat, a single window operator of PNB, and Hemant Bhat were taken into custody by the agency in connection with its FIR registered on January 31 against Modi, his companies and uncle Mehul Choski, they said. The FIR has listed eight fraudulent transactions worth over Rs 280 crore but based on further complaints from the bank the CBI now says the amount investigated in the first FIR is over Rs 6,498 crore, involving 150 Letters of Understanding allegedly fraudulently issued by Shetty and Kharat. The remaining 150 fraudulent LOUs worth over Rs 4,886 crore issued for Gitanjali group of companies are part of the second FIR registered yesterday by the agency against Choksi and his companies Gitanjali Gems, Nakshatra Brands and Gili, they said.

All these LOUs were issued or renewed during 2017-18, the officials said.