The Congress on Friday upped the ante against the Modi Government accusing it of allowing right under its nose a bank loot scam which through different layers of conspiracy has now peaked to Rs 21,306 crore.
The party alleged that the entire Modi Government, PMO, Enforcement Directorate, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), SEBI as well as the state governments of Maharashtra and Gujarat were aware of the ongoing scam pursuant to a series of complaints filed as early as on May 7, 2015.
The party said that PNB's stock has also depreciated radically ever since the scam came to light, wiping out Rs 7,000 crore in value. "Incidentally, the Centre owns 57 percent shares in PNB and the remaining is owned by financial institutions/common investors. If you add the erosion of the monetary value, total exposure comes to Rs 28,306 crore," Congress chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala said.
For his part, party president Rahul Gandhi fired yet another salvo at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over tainted businessmen Nirav fleeing the country and posted, "The scamster's escape formula: la(Mo) + Ni(Mo) ---(with) Na(Mo)---> Bha(Go)", while using the hashtag "#ModiRobsIndia".
Surjewala said that Punjab National Bank (PNB) has already admitted exposure of Rs 11,400 crore in the 293 'letters of Understanding' (loUs). "In addition, exposure of 30 banks in loans extended to four companies, namely 'Firestar International Private limited', Rs Firestar Diamond Fze', Rs Gitanjali Gems limited' and 'Gitanjali Exports Corporation' is Rs 9,906 crore. Thus, total exposure works out to Rs 21,306 crore," Surjewala said.
Sharing the documents, the party alleged that in addition, exposure of banks to three more companies, namely Diamonds RUS, Solar Exports and Stellar Diamonds, is yet to be disclosed by the banks and the Modi government while the experts estimate this exposure to be in the range of between Rs 3,000 and Rs 5000 crore which cumulatively take the total figure of the scam much higher.
Surjewala also asked whether the PM know Mehul Choksi. To add to the embarrassment of the Modi government, Congress also released a video from public event on 'Gold Monetization Scheme' where Narendra Modi publicly acknowledged Choksi.
The party also indicated about a complaint dated July 26, 2016, filed by one Hariprasad with the PMO, which has already been placed in public domain. "On May 3, 2017, Vaibhav Khuraniya also emailed the complaint, which was duly registered. So everyone in the Government of India, including the Prime Minister's Office was aware of the fraud being committed," alleged Congress.
According to the documents shared by the party, a complaint dated May 7, 2015, was filed with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs by one Vaibhav Khuraniya and copies of the same were also sent to the PMO, ED and the SFID. A similar complaint was filed with the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mumbai, alleged Congress.
"Another person named Digvijaysinh Jadeja filed an FIR in Ahmedabad EOW, Gujarat, against Mehul Choksi and others for defrauding him. The matter went to Gujarat High Court, where the Government of Gujarat was a party. In Special Criminal Application No. 4758 of 2015, Digvijaysinh Jadeja filed an affidavit on July 20, 2016, specifically pointing out that Mehul Choksi and others owed a debt of Rs 9,872 crore to banks and are likely to escape from India," Surjewala said joined by Gujarat leader Shaktisinh Govil.