Punjab National Bank (PNB) said on Wednesday it had detected some “fraudulent and unauthorised” transactions worth about $1.77 billion (₹11300 Crore) at one of its branches in Mumbai. In a communication to the Bombay Stock Exchange, the bank said the transactions were “for the benefit of a few select account holders with their apparent connivance” and that “based on these transactions other banks appear to have advanced money to these customers abroad.”
PNB, the country’s second-biggest
Public-Sector Bank lender and fourth-biggest overall by assets, did not name
the people involved but said it had reported the deals to law enforcement
agencies and would evaluate later whether it faces any liability arising out of
the transactions.
“In the bank these transactions
are contingent in nature and liability arising out of these on the bank shall
be decided based on the law and genuineness of underlying transactions,” PNB
said, without giving further details.
PNB shares were trading 4.1% lower by 10 am, having fallen as much as 5.7% in early trading on Wednesday. PNB is already dealing with other allegations of fraudulent transactions. Last week, CBI said they had launched an investigation into billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi, one of the country’s richest men, over accusations that he and others defrauded PNB of $ 44 million.
It was not immediately known if
the latest disclosure on fraudulent transactions was related to or separate
from the previous incident. Four top PNB executives contacted by Reuters did
not immediately respond requests seeking comment beyond the stock exchange
filing.
