PNB fraud fallout: CBI seals Brady House Branch in Mumbai
Mumbai: The CBI on Monday sealed the Brady House Branch of the Punjab National Bank as multiple probe agencies continued with their probe into the Rs 11,515 crore fraud, according to officials.
The Central Bureau of Investigation pasted an official notice outside the branch in Fort -- the bank's flagship lending window in Mumbai and its second largest national outlet.
All have been barred from opening or entering inside this branch without prior permission of the CBI or the CBI Special Court or the CBI Competent Authority. (IANS had first named and identified on February 14 the involvement of this crucial Branch that deals with some of its biggest accounts).
Accordingly, all operations at the Brady House Branch came to a grinding halt and several bewildered staffers were seen waiting outside it for further orders from their bosses.
The action came two days after the Special CBI Court here remanded to police custody till March 3, three accused in the PNB fraud, including two former staffers.
The accused includes retired PNB Deputy Manager Gokulnath Shetty, Single Window Operator Manoj Kharat and authorized signatory of the prime accused Nirav Modi's group companies, Hemant Bhatt.
The three were the very first arrests to be in the sensational case so far by the CBI from different parts of Mumbai and Raigad. More arrests were expected soon, officials have indicated.
Besides these, the CBI earlier named ten other directors and officials as accused in the scam which has created a nationwide furore.
They are: Krishnan Sangameshwaran, Nazura Yashjaney, Gopal Das Bhatia, Aniyath Shivraman, Dhanesh Vrajlal Sheth, Jyoti Bharat Vora, Anil Umesh Haldipur, Chandrakant Kanu Karkare, Pankhuri Abhijeet Varange and Mihir Bhaskar Joshi.
The prime accused, diamond trader Nirav Modi and other associates fled the country in early January, before the massive PNB fraud came to light.
The multi-pronged action by the CBI, Enforcement Directorate and others comes five days after PNB admitted to unearthing a fraud of Rs 11,515 crore involving Modi's companies and certain other accounts in the Brady House Branch.
The fraud, which includes money-laundering among others, concerns the Firestar Diamonds group in which the CBI last week booked Modi, his wife Ami, brother Nishal Modi and their uncle, Mehul Choksi.
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EY’s Rajiv Memani regrets absence at employee's funeral amid work culture criticism
New Delhi: Rajiv Memani, the chairperson of Ernst and Young India, expressed sadness that no one from the firm attended the employee's funeral, saying it was "alien to our culture" and that the individual had supposedly died from extreme work pressure. Memani, who has been subject to intense criticism on social media for what he perceives to be a hostile work environment, expressed his profound sadness for the untimely death of Anna Sebastian Perayil in a post on LinkedIn.
"Although nothing can completely fill the gap in the family's lives, I have sent them my sincerest sympathies. I sincerely apologize for our absence from Anna's burial. This is not at all representative of our culture. Memani said, "It has never happened before and it won't happen again." He also emphasized that he would not stop until the objective of "nurturing a harmonious workplace" was achieved.
Clarifying further he said, “Creating a healthy work environment has always been very important to us, and we place the utmost value on our employees' well-being."I want to reaffirm that our people's welfare is my first priority, and I will personally fight for this goal.”
On July 20, Anna Sebastian Perayil, an employee of E&Y since March, passed away. This week, the incident came to light due to the widespread distribution of her mother Anita Augustine's open letter to the corporation, in which she claimed that Anna gave in to "work pressure".
Augustine stated that her daughter's funeral was attended by no one from the company in question. "I contacted her managers following her burial, but I didn't hear back. In the letter, she said, "How can a company that claims to uphold human rights and values fail to stand by one of its own in their last moments?"
As a result of his denial that “work pressure" was the cause of the Pune woman's death, Memani came under fire on social media, according to an Indian Express article.
The Center started looking into what happened before Anna passed away as the matter escalated in urgency. Shobha Karandlaje, the minister of state for labor, announced on Thursday that a comprehensive inquiry into the claims of a hazardous and exploitative workplace was under progress.
