PNB scam: CBI questions RBI ex-Deputy Governor

NEW DELHI: The CBI on Friday questioned former Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank Harun Rashid Khan in connection with bank scams involving jewellers Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi and relaxation of gold import rules in 2014 by the erstwhile UPA government allegedly to the benefit of private traders.

Khan is the senior-most former official of the RBI to be questioned by the CBI in connection with the USD 2 billion scam in Punjab National Bank, considered the biggest in the financial history of the country, they said.

The sources said his questioning revolved around the policy framework of the time when fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (Los) were issued by Punjab National Bank (PNB) to the firms of Modi and Choksi.

He was also questioned on the '20:80' gold import scheme, which was cleared by then finance minister P Chidambaram on May 13, 2014, barely three days before the counting of votes of the general election, they said. The scheme had allegedly helped Choksi's company and a few other make windfall gains.

After questioning the PNB top brass, the agency has now shifted its focus to the policies which could have been exploited by Modi and Choksi to further their alleged cheating.

Meanwhile, according to a Bloomberg report, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is delaying year-end bonuses to the heads of top private banks as it questions the size of the payouts citing the lenders' performance issues, said people familiar with the matter.

Chief executive officers (CEO) at HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank -- the nation's largest private lenders by assets -- are among bankers yet to receive bonuses for the financial year ended March 31, 2017, as the RBI hasn't signed off on the proposed payments, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. They declined to give further details.

ICICI's board had approved a bonus of Rs 2.2 crore for CEO Chanda Kochhar while Axis Bank's Shikha Sharma was set to receive Rs 1.35 crore and HDFC Bank's Aditya Puri about Rs 2.9 crore, exchange filings show.