NEW DELHI: India’s federal police arrested two employees at Punjab National Bank believed to be at the center of a staggering $1.77 billion fraud, the first arrests so far in the country’s biggest-ever bank scam, a police source said on Saturday.
The pair, Gokulnath Shetty and Manoj Kharat, are suspected of steering fraudulent loans to companies linked to billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi and to entities tied to jewellry retailer Gitanjali, which is led by Modi’s uncle, Mehul Choksi.
PNB is the country’s second-largest state-run lender.
The police also arrested a third person, Hemant Bhat, whom the source described as the “authorized signatory” of the companies tied to Nirav Modi.
All three will appear in a Mumbai court later on Saturday, the source said.
The investigation and “examination of others is continuing,” the source said.
PNB’s disclosure on Wednesday that it had suffered massive fraud has sparked a widening probe involving various Indian authorities.
India’s Income Tax Department has also extended a probe into Modi and his group companies, looking into possible tax evasion and suspected investment of illegal funds, a spokeswoman told Reuters.
“We have provisionally attached 29 properties and 105 bank accounts of Nirav Modi and his group companies in the PNB bank fraud case,” she said.
Indian police arrest three people in $1.8bn PNB fraud case
Indian police arrest three people in $1.8bn PNB fraud case
Closing Bell: Saudi main index closes in red at 10,847
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index dipped on Wednesday, losing 58.51 points, or 0.54 percent, to close at 10,847.93.
The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR3.78 billion ($1 billion), as 73 of the listed stocks advanced, while 187 retreated.
The MSCI Tadawul Index decreased, down 7.09 points or 0.48 percent, to close at 1,472.98.
The Kingdom’s parallel market Nomu lost 178.75 points, or 0.77 percent, to close at 22,916.83. This comes as 30 of the listed stocks advanced, while 37 retreated.
The best-performing stock was the Power and Water Utility Co. for Jubail and Yanbu, with its share price surging by 8.47 percent to SR31.24.
Other top performers included Saudi Paper Manufacturing Co., which saw its share price rise by 6.13 percent to SR53.70, and Jamjoom Pharmaceuticals Factory Co., which saw a 4.58 percent increase to SR137.
On the downside, the worst performer of the day was CHUBB Arabia Cooperative Insurance Co., whose share price fell by 5.14 percent to SR17.53.
Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co. and Arabian Internet and Communications Services Co. also saw declines, with their shares dropping by 4.87 percent and 4.43 percent to SR4.88 and SR181.40, respectively.
On the announcement front, Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co. announced its annual financial results for 2025, with sales dropping 3.06 percent year-on-year to SR8.45 billion. The company also recorded a net loss of SR893.86 million.
In a Tadawul statement, the company said the net loss and decline in annual sales were driven by a drop in average selling prices, despite higher sales volumes.
