PNB scam effect: 6 months after complaint, CBI books jeweller for Rs 389-cr fraud

Case has been booked against Karol Bagh-based Dwarka Das Seth International Pvt Ltd for alleged bank loan fraud to the tune of Rs 389.85 crore

New Delhi: Six months after the Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) filed a complaint against a Delhi-based diamond jewellery house for alleged loan fraud, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) finally registered a case on Saturday.

The case was booked against Karol Bagh-based Dwarka Das Seth International Pvt Ltd for alleged bank loan fraud to the tune of Rs 389.85 crore towards the public sector bank.

CBI's action comes days after multiple agencies tightened its strings against jewellers Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi for massive loan frauds against the Punjab National Bank (PNB).

The central agency has booked the company's directors – Sabhya Seth, Reeta Seth, Krishna Kumar Singh, Ravi Singh – and another firm named Dwarka Das Seth SEZ Incorporation .

The company had availed various credit facilities from OBC between 2007-12, which swelled to Rs 389 crore during the period.

The company was allegedly using Letters of Credit (LoCs) to pay off other creditors against the purchase of gold and other precious stone and transfer gold and funds outside the country using fictitious transactions, the bank complaint, now part of the CBI FIR, alleged.

The company was also engaging in business transactions with non-existent entities, it said. 

Earlier today, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley slammed regulators for failing to detect the Rs 11,400-crore fraud at Punjab National Bank for seven long years, saying unlike politicians, regulators in the Indian system are unaccountable.

Meanwhile, Mehul Choksi, Gitanjali Gems promoter and one of the prime accused in Rs 11,400 crore Punjab National bank fraud, has written to his employees to look for other job options as he will no longer be able to pay them their salaries and other dues. 

The Enforcement Directorate attached 21 properties of Nirav Modi group, including flats and farmhouses, worth over Rs 523 crore under anti-money laundering law on Saturday. 

With PTI inputs