(LiveMint)
Punjab National Bank on Tuesday said the PNB fraud amount could go up by about $204 million in addition to the $1.77 billion it had earlier reported, sending shares down as much as 12.73%. PNB’s announcement late on Monday also sent other shares of state-run lenders lower, reinforcing concerns about the escalating financial cost of the unauthorised loans steered towards billionaire jewellers Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, owner of Gitanjali Gems Ltd.
The scale of the fraud, the biggest to hit an Indian lender, has stunned the country and put the lack of supervisory oversight by the central bank and auditors under the spotlight.Local media reported on Tuesday the Central Bureau of Investigation had raided the offices of law firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, which had represented Nirav Modi for a while.
