Six Arrested In PNB Fraud To Remain In CBI Custody Till March 5 

The special CBI court extended the custody of six people arrested in the Punjab National Bank fraud case till March 5.

Those arrested on Feb. 20 include:

• Vipul Ambani, former president - finance at Firestar International Pvt., a Nirav Modi Group company.
• Kavita Mankikar, executive assistant and authorised signatory of Nirav Modi Group companies.
• Arjun Patil, senior executive at Firestar International.
• Kapil Khandelwal, chief financial officer at Nakshatra Group and Gitanjali Group.
• Niten Shahi, manager, Gitanjali Group
• Rajesh Jindal, rank officer at Punjab National Bank

They were arrested in the the case involving Rs 11,400-crore loans granted on fraudulent guarantees issued in the name of PNB to the companies related to billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, the owner of Gitanjali Group.

The public prosecutor argued that those arrested were a part of the conspiracy and the investigating agency will need more time to interrogate them. Ambani, president, finance at Firestar International till November, was aware of all transactions with Punjab National Bank officials, he argued. Ambani’s lawyer denied that he was aware of the transactions.

The public prosecutor said Mankikar and Patil also played a key role in applying for the letters of undertaking.