Days after getting duped of Rs 11,400 crore allegedly by businessmen Nirav Modi, his family members and Mehul Choksi, the state-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) has assured its customers that the bank has enough assets to deal with the current situation.
The PNB said that it has the capacity and capability to handle the present situation and protect the interests of the Institution.
"Be rest assured as we have a strong sovereign backing. The core strength of the bank is the brand image with rich 123 years of existence, strong CASA base, stable asset quality and increased pace of digitization," PNB said in a tweet.
''We assure you that in your bank, it is business as usual'', the bank told its customers.
The Bank has the capacity and capability to handle the situation and protect the interest of the Institution. Some news like restrictions on withdrawal etc. is floating in some channels. It has been created by some miscreants and is totally baseless. pic.twitter.com/Of0UDBgj6v
— Punjab National Bank (@Indiapnb) 19 February 2018
The bank also dismissed rumors that it had brought in restrictions on withdrawals. ''Some news like restrictions on withdrawal etc. is floating in some channels. It has been created by some miscreants and is totally baseless,'' a PNB statement read.
In a newsletter published on February 16, the bank informed that it has already initiated prompt steps for protecting the financial interest of all the lenders/stakeholders including the issuance of an advisory to lenders involved and to act swiftly to recover the dues.
Before the huge financial fraud came to light, billionaire jeweler Nirav Modi had left India. Both the CBI and Enforcement Directorate have started investigations against him and his partners.
Following the PNB scam, the external affairs ministry had suspended the passports of Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi for four weeks.
Also, some employees of PNB were suspended from their post for their suspected involvement in the fraud.
On February 20, the CBI arrested three officers of Punjab National Bank's MCB Brady House branch in Mumbai in connection with the scam. According to ANI, the three officials are -- Bechhu Tiwari, chief manager in charge of forex department, Yashwant Joshi, scale II, manager forex department and Praful Sawant, scale I officer, export department.
