2 international SBI officials questioned in PNB scam

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday questioned two international State Bank of India officials of deputy general manage rank in the Punjab National Bank scam estimated to be worth around Rs 13,910 crore. The agency refused to divulge names of the people who were questioned.

The questioned officials are however, known to be from SBI branch in Frankfurt and Mauritius, the receiving branches of Indian banks that honoured the LoUs issued to Modi and Choksi's firms by PNB.

On Wednesday, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) stated that they have started probing another scam of Rs 5,280 crore loan to Mehul Choksi's Geetanjali Groups given by a consortium of 31 banks led by ICICI.

With the addition of Rs 5,280 crore, the total amount of of the scam could now amount to Rs 19,190 crore so far. The agency said that they will not file a separate FIR in the matter and it will be incorporated into the FIRs already filed.

The matter came to light last month after the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) of the Ministry of Corporate summoned the ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and Axis Bank MD Shikha Sharma to the probe in Choksi's Gitanjali Gems fraud. ICICI Bank led the 31-bank consortium had extended credit to the tune of Rs 5,280 crore to Choksi's Gitanjali Group. ICICI Bank alone had given Rs 405 crore loan to Gitanjali Gems.

State Bank of India