21:54 Nirav Modi’s counsel has said that CBI has written to the court saying that outstanding amount is not Rs 11,000 crore but is Rs 6,000 crore, according to CNBC TV18.

The counsel has also said that PNB was aware of the outstanding loans.

21:34 CBI arrests 5 more people including Gitanjali Group CFO, Firestar Intl CFO, reports CNBC TV18.

19:56 It is incumbent upon the state to chase those who cheat the banking system: FM Arun Jaitley

Breaking his silence on the PNB fraud, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said, “When authority is given to the managements, then you are expected to utilize authority effectively and in the right manner and therefore question for management is if they were found lacking, on the face of it seems they were.”

“Also, what were auditors doing? If both internal and external auditors have looked other way and failed to detect then I think CA professionals must introspect. Supervisory agencies also must introspect what are the additional mechanisms they have to put in place,” Jaitley said.

“It is incumbent upon the state to chase those who cheat the banking system,” he added.

19:07 Moneycontrol’s Tarun Sharma has reported that CBI has said that cases have been registered against all the three accused under 120 (B), 420 of the IPC.

Bechhu Tiwari was in charge of monitoring transactions which were taking place at the time LoCs were issued. Yashwant Joshi was working under Forex Department of the bank, and after the retirement of Gokulnath Shetty took over the job. Joshi sanctioned buyer’s credit post the retirement of Gokulnath Shetty. Praful Sawant was deliberately not checking the SWIFT messages and didn’t link the transactions to the core banking solutions, the investigation body has said.

18:25 Punjab National Bank fraud conspiracy may have been going on since 2008, CBI counsel has told the special court, according to Reuters.

18:19 The special CBI court has granted CBI custody of 3 arrested PNB officials till March 3.

17:55 CBI has found a new farmhouse belonging to Nirav Modi in Alibag near Mumbai where searches are underway, the investigative body has said according to reports.

17:36 Probe in the PNB fraud case has reached the bank’s top brass. 10 officers of the bank, including executive director level officers are being questioned along with 8 executives of Nirav Modi groups and 10 Gitanjali executives, CBI sources have said according to CNN News18.

16:42 PNB shares remain weak; mcap slumps Rs 11,581 crore in 5 days, Gitanjali Gems further tanks 10%; down over 51% in 5 days

Shares of Punjab National Bank fell by nearly 5 percent today, continuing the downtrend for the fifth straight session following the Rs 11,300-crore fraud.

The stock opened on a weak note and further lost 4.63 percent to Rs 111 — its 52-week low — on BSE.

At NSE, shares of the company dropped 4.72 percent to touch its one-year low of Rs 111.

In five trading sessions, the stock has declined over 31 percent and suffered an erosion of Rs 11,581.56 crore in its market capitalisation. (PTI)

Shares of Gitanjali Gems tumbled further by nearly 10 percent to hit its lowest trading permissible limit for the day after the company came under the scanner of various investigating agencies following the PNB's Rs 11,300-crore fraud detection.

The stock tanked 9.91 percent to Rs 30.45 — its lowest trading permissible limit — on BSE.

At NSE, shares of the company dived 9.92 percent to Rs 30.40 — its lower price band.

In five straight trading sessions, the stock has lost over 51 percent, wiping out Rs 383.81 crore from its market valuation. (ANI)

10:41 Supreme Court to hear PNB fraud case on Friday

CJI agrees to list the case on an urgent basis. A PIL was filed by a lawyer Vineet Dhanda which seeks deportation of Nirav Modi in 2 months.

Plea wants action to be taken against PNB top brass and RBI officials. It also wants Supreme Court to issue new guidelines for granting big loans, stringent recovery mechanism.

The PIL also wants the apex court to issue new guidelines for granting big loans, stringent recovery mechanism.

'Farmers are forced to commit suicide while people like Nirav Modi files out', says the PIL accessed by news media groups. Plea wants action against PNB top brass and RBI officials. It also wants Supreme Court to issue new guidelines for granting big loans, stringent recovery mechanism.

10:15 Like 2G Scam & Bofors matter this case will also collapse. Agencies are making noises in the media but they will not be able to prove the charges in a court of law. I am sure Nirav Modi will not be found guilty: Vijay Aggarwal, Nirav Modi's lawyer to ANI

10:05 Fitch cautious on PNB, puts viability rating on rating watch negative, reports CNBC-TV18.

09:25 PNB says enough arrangements for customers

Embroiled in a major fraud, state-owned PNB today assured all its customers that "enough arrangements" for their banking transactions without any inconvenience, and it has sufficient assets to meet any liability.

Replying to clarifications sought by stock exchanges, the Punjab National Bank (PNB) said: "Bank has enough assets to meet any liability which is decided as per law."

However, it added realisation of any specific asset would be decided at the time of need with the approval of board.

09:15 Govt intervenes, asks banks to rotate staff and integrate banking system: Report

The government is believed to have asked public sector undertakings (PSUs) to rotate their staff and integrate Core Banking System with the SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Inter-Bank Financial Telecommunication) system, in order to avoid such cases in the future and help the apex bodies to be more cautious, reports The Business Standard. However, these norms were already issued to the state-owned banks but seems to have not been followed in the past.

09:00 IT dept seeks Nirav Modi's tax details across the globe, says report

Tax authorities have written to their counterparts in different parts of the world, which are believed to be Nirav Modi's tax havens, seeking the jeweller's account details and entities linked to him, reports The Economic Times.

The tax authorities wrote to Jersey, the Bahamas, Cyprus, Singapore and Mauritius. seeking details of jeweller Nirav Modi’s accounts and certain entities linked to him. The entities cited above were used to direct funds to Indian companies. The authorities suspect the money may have been roundtripped via some of the tax havens through a clutch of trusts and other entities. “We have sought more details, information... Fresh references have been sent out,” said a senior income tax department official.

Here's a recap of the case

What happened?

Over Rs 11,400 crore was siphoned by Punjab National Bank (PNB) issuing LoUs to top Nirav Modi. Bank officials and major diamond merchant Nirav Modi and his accomplices were involved in this case. The bank officials issued the letters to the concerned persons who approached them. The fraud started in 2010, and was detected on 25 January 2018, according to PNB's MD and CEO Sunil Mehta.

- Moneycontrol's Beena Parmar and Tarun Sharma reported that in Nirav Modi's second letter to PNB and other banks, claiming PNB had earned commission on the buyers' credit given to his three firms.-In his first letter, accessed by PTI , Nirav Modi wrote to PNB saying that he owed them only Rs 5,000 crore and now that the bank has 'gone public' with the case, the bank 'has closed all options' to recover the dues.- CBI sources have said that 17 others are being questioned in connection with the scam.-The CBI has said that 13 PNB officials, including the then GM level officers were questioned yesterday along with four of Nirav Modi group's employees were also quizzed.- The Income Tax Department has attached 7 more properties of Gitanjali Group, out of which 4 are registered in the name of Gitanjali Gems, 2 properties belong to Mehul Choksi and 1 is registered in Gili India's name. All the attached properties are in Mumbai, sources in the department have said according to reports.- Till now, 6 have been arrested - PNB officials and an authorised signatory - have been arrested. Out of these, three officials from the Brady House branch and the other three, who are believed to be connected to the scam, were arrested on Saturday.

- Nirav Modi helped high profile clients exchange unaccounted cash after demonetisation, reports CNN-News18.

- An ED official told Moneycontrol's Tarun Sharma that they are taking stock value at the time of seized assets.

'We have started valuation of these (seized) assets... We hired liquidators for checking the value of these assets,' the ED official has said, adding that the first LoU was issued in March 2011 and has been issued every year since.

The ED official has said that 39 raids are going as of now and total seized amount is worth Rs 5,716 and has said that auditors' report has been sought from the bank.