Categorical
Statement by whistleblower Dinesh Dubey on TV explaining how Nirav Modi and
Mehul Choksi were helped by the entire Board of Allahabad Bank in 2012-2013 leaves no
doubt that the same drama must have been enacted in other Banks at the highest
level.
Dinesh Dubey
was the nominee director appointed by the UPA Government on the Board of
Allahabad Bank. He had objected to the renewal of loans given to Mehul Choksi
and Nirav Modi. His dissent note was not considered by the Board of the
Allahabad Bank.
Dinesh Dubey
had written to then RBI Dy. Governor Chakravarty. Except praising Dubey for his
alertness, the then Dy. Governor Chakravarty did precious little to stop this
loan. Role of then RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan also needs to be probed. The man
is conspicuous by his silence in this matter. The RBI also had its nominee Mr.
Udgatha as Director on the Board. His reaction to the objections raised by
Dinesh Dubey that such sanctions/disbursement do happen in rare cases are
equally shocking.
His charge
against then Finance Secretary Takru that he forced him to resign as there was
pressure from above is a testimony of involvement of powerful in this scam.
This clearly
shows the entire system was smoothly working to the advantage of scamster/ fraudster
Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi.
Who were the
higher ups who could influence the Finance Secretary?
Was it Finance
Minister Chidambaram? Or PM Dr Manmohan Singh? Or INC President and then de
facto PM Sonia Gandhi? Or Rahul Gandhi who had reportedly inaugurated
Nirav Modi’s Delhi show room one day earlier? Or someone from the powerful coterie
of Sonia Gandhi such as Ahmed Patel?
Even as the
Congress targeted PM Modi for being pictured at the World Economic Forum 2018
in Davos, Switzerland, Congress rebel and Rahul Gandhi baiter Shehzad
Poonawalla alleged that the Congress President had attended Nirav Modi’s event
in 2013:
#PNBScam began with fraudulent LoUs &
transactions which began in 2011 - Just FYI : Rahul Gandhi was spotted at Nirav
Modi events - did not know he had interest in bridal jewellery - 2013 Imperial
Hotel event in Delhi.. SCAM began in 2011- should find out Nirav's political
links https://t.co/SfbIQyIosS
— Shehzad Jai
Hind (@Shehzad_Ind) February 15, 2018
Challenge to @OfficeOfRG - was he not at Nirav Modi's event in
Delhi's Imperial Hotel in 2013-SPG details will leave no doubt if made public- #PNBScam started in 2011;Nirav hobnobs with
Rahul (whose govt in power) in 2013 ;Rahul had interest in women's jewellery? Or
something else https://t.co/kbg9U8Hr7i
— Shehzad Jai
Hind (@Shehzad_Ind) February 15, 2018
A thorough,
sincere and time bound investigation should reveal the brain and the
collaborators in this fraud. This cannot be the brain of a mid-level Deputy
Manager like Gokulnath Shetty or Kharat.
The exposure
of various banks is:
- Allahabad Bank: Rs.4,000 crore
- Union Bank: Rs.2,300 crore
- Axis Bank: Rs.2,000 crore
- SBI: Rs.960 crore
- BOI: Rs.300 crore.
- Total: Rs.9,560 crore.
Raids on
premises of Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi yielded recovery of 294 fake LOUs and
224 fake LCs.
It is said
that the magnitude of fraud is around Rs.35,000 crore and not Rs.11,100 crore
as is made out to be. Republic TV is carrying out expose in this regard.
So far, only
18 PNB officials are suspended. No one has yet been arrested.
No action has
so far been initiated against the members of the Allahabad Bank Board, the then
Finance Secretary Rajesh Takru, then Dy. Governor of RBI Chakravarty, RBI
Governor Raghuram Rajan for acting as a moot spectator to this loot.
No
investigation has been ordered into other Banks mentioned above.
Who was that
higher authority that was forcing Finance Secretary Takru to silence the
dissent towards disbursement of loans to Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi team? It
does not require much of intelligence to infer that similar influence must have
been exerted on the Boards of other Banks. If not, they were clearly in cahoot
with the fraudsters.
If one applies
for vehicle loan, the Banks cross check the proforma invoice with the dealer.
In this case, no such cross verification that is known as ‘confirmation’ in
banking parlance, was done by any of these Banks lending money on the basis of
LOUs/LCs of PNB is difficult to digest. This cannot be brushed aside as mere
failure – systemic or systematic.
In
a FICCI session that was held in Kolkata on July 10, 2017, Arundhati
Bhattacharya, Chairman of State Bank of India made a jaw-dropping remark justifying emergence of
NPAs: "In India NPA is treated as criminal, which it should not be. There
is no permission for failures. Permission to fail is not given by the society.
But failures will take place."
In its RTI
request, Reuters sought data from 20 of India’s 21 state-run lenders and
obtained 15 replies.
PNB topped
the list with 389 cases totaling 65.62 billion rupees ($1.03 billion) over the
last five financial years, in terms of the total amounts involved. Reuters was
unable to obtain a detailed breakdown on the exact nature and method of the
loan frauds the banks reported to RBI over the last five financial years.
After PNB,
Bank of Baroda had the highest amount of loan frauds reported, with 44.73
billion rupees from 389 cases. Bank of India ranked third, with loan frauds totaling
40.5 billion rupees from 231 cases.
India’s biggest lender, State Bank of India has reported 1,069
loan fraud cases in the last five financial years but has not disclosed the
amount. That is the magnitude of “accepted failure” in SBI under the
Chairmanship of Arundhati Bhattacharya. That is perhaps why she wanted to
decriminalize the NPAs so that the likes of Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul
Choksi could lead their luxurious life at the expense of a common man. And SBI
has mastered that skill. SBI has already recovered Rs.1,772 crore from small depositors
in the form of penal charges for not maintaining minimum balance in their
savings account during the period April 2017 to November 2017. Tax the poor to
pay for the Failure.
It is high
time Government came down heavily on this organized loot and prosecuted the
higher ups in the hierarchy rather than making a scapegoat of ordinary foot
soldiers.
No comments:
Post a Comment