| After Rs 13,000 crore scam, PNB plans to hire detective agency services | | | Agencies
After the infamous Rs 13,000 crore scam got unearthed, Punjab National Bank has decided to hire services of detective agencies. The decision to hire detective firms has been taken lately and PNB has already asked the interested agencies to come up with presentations on what measures need to be taken to stop the financial crimes.
"Punjab National Bank" invites applications for empanelment of Detective Agencies for the period 2018-2019. Criteria ofqualifications, experience, scope of work, application forms, undertakings, addresses of the Zonal Offices etc. are enclosed. Agencies already empanelled with the bank need not apply again", the bank stated in an advertisement on its website.
According to PNB, the agency should be able to locate the borrower(s)/ co-borrower(s)/ guarantor(s)/ mortgagor(s), (in/outside India) including their legal heirs who are either untraceable or not available at the addresses givenin Bank’s records defaulters' present address(es)/ occupation(s), business(es), income streams, details of their all assets, whether charged or uncharged, their location(whether in India or abroad), value and ownership, etc.
The detective agency should have a minimum of three years of experience.
Investigating authorities have accused diamond merchants Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi of masterminding the country's biggest banking sector scam – estimated at Rs 13,000 crore – at the Brady House branch of PNB by using fake guarantees.Both Modi and Choksi are absconding and are said to be outside India.
After the scam, the fraud-hit bank has taken an aggressive stand towards willful defaulters by impounding 150 passports and lodging 37 FIRs.
PNB is reeling under a massive fraud amounting to thousands of crores of rupees, has suffered losses of over Rs 14,500 crore in this fiscal so far, Parliament was informed this week.
In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on March 20, Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla said the state-owned bank's loss in 2015-16 was Rs 341.03 crore which has risen to Rs 14,506.39 crore in FY 2017-18.
"PNB has apprised that the total loss reported by it due to frauds was Rs 341.03 crore in the financial year (FY) 2015-16, Rs 2,633.82 crore in FY 2016-17, and Rs 14,506.39 crore (including contingent liability) in FY 2017-18 (till date)," the minister informed earlier.
With regard to scam related to diamond trade, he said, PNB has submitted reports on fraud related to diamond traders to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) through its Fraud Monitoring Reporting System. |
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