Both Modi and Choksi left India in the first week of January 2018, weeks before the PNB scam became public. (File)

PNB Scam: Fugitive diamond jeweller Nirav Modi and his maternal uncle and partner Mehul Choksi managed to escape after routing about Rs 13,500 crore worth of fraudulent transactions through India’s state-run lender Punjab National Bank. Delayed in sharing the crucial findings by the Income Tax department with other agencies was one of the major reasons that left the fleeing door open for the two. The scam, which is the biggest in the biggest banking scam in India, not only shook the financial sector in the country but also triggered a massive probe and regulatory changes.

The IT department had finalised the probe report on Modi and Choksi on June 8, 2017, in which it waved red flags such as huge over-valuation of stocks, bogus purchases, dubious loans and suspicious payments to relatives. However, the report had not been shared with other agencies such as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED), Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence until February 2018, the time when the PNB scam came into light. Both Modi and Choksi left India in the first week of January 2018, weeks before the PNB scam became public.

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The IT department searched Modi’s firms and surveyed Choksi’s companies in January 2017, a total of 45 residential and commercial premises across India. The department did not share the findings with other agencies as, according to a senior tax official, there was “no protocol” for sharing such reports with other agencies at that time, The Indian Express reported. The department started sharing information since July-August on a real-time basis, the official told the newspaper.

Key findings of the June 2017 report of the IT department: