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NEW DELHI — Indian investigators are probing a $1.8 billion bank fraud, an official said Thursday, with a wealthy jeweler reportedly using fake bank documents to obtain overseas loans.

State-owned Punjab National Bank said in a Wednesday statement that the “fraudulent and unauthorized transactions” had been discovered in January in a single Mumbai bank branch “for the benefit of a few select account holders with their apparent connivance.”

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India’s Central Bureau of Investigation began its probe soon after the bank made the discovery, said Abhishek Dayal, an agency spokesman.

Numerous Indian media outlets have linked the scam to billionaire jeweler Nirav Modi.

Authorities have not publicly accused Modi in the $1.8 billion fraud but say he is under investigation for allegedly cheating Punjab National Bank of $43 million by using fake bank “letters of understanding” to get loans. The official complaint says Modi, along with his wife, brother and business partner, worked with a pair of bank employees to get the letters.