India

They are just making noise, nothing proves Nirav Modi’s guilt, lawyer tells media

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A day after Nirav Modi virtually ruled out repaying the Rs 11,300 crore he owes to Punjab National Bank, his counsel Vijay Aggarwal cocked a snook at the government and said the cases filed by the CBI and the ED against his client would “collapse” like those related to the 2G scam, Bofors and Aarushi.

“They (PNB and investigating agencies) are just making noise. There is nothing that proves Nirav Modi is guilty,” Aggarwal said, arguing that his client was not guilty of “any wrongdoing”. He also said that the diamond trader, who now features on the country’s most-wanted list, had not fled. Nirav was out as he had to run his “global operations”, contended Aggarwal, who had defended many of the accused in the 2G case, told Times of India.

Nirav Modi, the prime accused in the Punjab National Bank fraud has said, in a letter to the bank, that their ‘overzealousness’ has  jeopardized his chances of paying the loans back.

Modi also claims that the amount is much lesser than what the bank has claimed. He said that he owes the bank under Rs. 5000 crores.

He also accused the bank that by going public, they have destroyed his brand and his businesses.

ALSO READ: Nirav Modi’s letter to PNB: ‘You have destroyed my brand, my businesses, my ability to pay back’

Billionaire jeweler Mehul Choksi who is a co-accused in the Punjab National Bank fraud, has also defrauded the Jammu and Kashmir Bank of Rs.152 crore.

The amount had been taken as a loan from the bank for ‘Gitanjali Gems’.

Talking to the Free Press Kashmir Sajad Bazaz, Head of Corporate Communications, JK Bank said that the bank is contemplating legal action against Choksi.

ALSO READ: Aftermath of the PNB, Rotomac frauds: Govt looses $4.6 billion in state run banks in 7 days

“The Chairman of JK Bank has already given a statement regarding this issue that legal action will be taken against the parties involved. This is not just our bank. Many bank have been defrauded. When we got to know about the Punjab National Bank’s case, we tallied the name of this big party with our books. And it hit! Now, whatever will be required to do individually as a bank, we will do. Rest, CBI has taken over the case. Arrests and investigations regarding the same are going on, on behalf of all the banks,” Bazaz said.

ALSO READ: After the largest ever loan fraud in Indian history, PNB says it has the capacity to recover

After detecting the largest ever loan fraud in Indian history, the Punjab National Bank had said that it has the capacity to recover.

The Bank, which is India’s third largest lender, on Wednesday detected fraudulent transactions worth $1,771.7 million (Rs.10,000 cr) in its Mumbai branch, resulting in a sharp decline in its share prices.

In the aftermath, the PNB shares have tumbled by 20 percent this week.

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