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PNB fraud: ED arrests Nirav Modi's close associate Shyam Sundar Wadhwa

March 30, 2018 06:17·
Image for representational purpose

Image for representational purpose

While banks other than PNB will not have to make provisions in respect of loans against LoU, a consortium of 31 lenders will need to make provisions on loans of close to Rs 7,000 crore made to Modi and Choksi group companies.

On Tuesday, the ED arrested Shyamsunder Wadhwa, vice-president (accounts), at Firestar International.

Modi, a regular on the lists of rich and famous Indians since 2013, along with his group companies - Diamond R US, Stellar Diamond and Solar Exports - and others have been implicated in the Rs 13,500 crore scam which was admitted by the PNB in February, leading to a massive upheaval in the country's banking system. The ED claimed Wadhwa was instrumental in setting up two companies in Hong Kong (Ms Aura Gem and Ms Sino Traders) along with dummy directors and that these firms were used for laundering substantial amounts totalling Rs 5,921crore.

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Mr Venegavkar told the court that Mr Wadhwa has been saying "I am not aware" and "I have not interacted with" to nearly every question put to him. "He is aware of the whole functioning process and can give us a lot of details if given his custody for seven days", said Hiten Venegaonkar, ED prosecutor. Officials said Shyam Sunder Wadhwa, 51, a chartered accountant and Vice President of Firestar Diamonds, was a very close confidant of Modi and even knew Modi's current location. AuraGem and Sino Traders had even transferred around Rs 468 crores and Rs 506 crores respectively back to India. It alleged that he was trying to initially "mislead" the agency during interrogation but later confessed to doing the paperwork for creating the two firms and appointing "dummy" or fake directors in them.

The move is part of money trail probe by the ED and the CBI after cases were registered against Modi and his business partner and uncle Mehul Choksi, promoter of Gitanjali Group, for defrauding PNB. So far, the ED has carried out searches at 251 properties across the country and seized diamonds, gold, pearls and precious and semi-precious stones.

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