Punjab National Bank detects Rs 11,300 crore fraudulent transactions at Mumbai branch

MUMBAI: State-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) said on Wednesday it had detected some ?fraudulent and unauthorised? transactions worth about $1.77 billion (about Rs 11, 300 crore) at one of its branches in Mumbai.nnPunjab National Bank (PNB) filed a complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the federal investigation agency, alleging that Nirav Modi and companies linked to him fraudulently acquired PNB guarantees worth Rs10,000 crore ($1.6 billion) that they later used to obtain loans from abroad, the people said, asking not to be identified as the details aren?t public. The bank alleged that Modi worked with some junior PNB officials to get the letters, the people said, reported Mint.nn”PNB had already filed a case against Modi two weeks ago ? the details of which have been made public ? alleging a Rs280 crore fraud and said it would check if the impact was deeper. It told the exchanges on Wednesday ? without naming anyone ? that a $1.8 billion fraud was detected at a single branch in India?s financial hub,” report said.nnIn a communique 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.?nnPNB, the country?s second-biggest state-run 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.nn?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.nnPNB shares were trading 4.1% lower by 10am, having fallen as much as 5.7% in early trading on Wednesday.nnPNB is already dealing with other allegations of fraudulent transactions. Last week, Central Bureau of Investigation (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.nnIt was not immediately known if the latest disclosure on fraudulent transactions was related to or separate from the previous incident.nnFour top PNB executives contacted by Reuters did not immediately respond requests seeking comment beyond the stock exchange filing.nnWith Reuters inputs