Deepak Kulkarni, Aide of Mehul Choksi, Arrested at Kolkata Airport in PNB Fraud Case

New Delhi, November 6: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested an executive of a firm linked to fugitive jeweller Mehul Choksi in connection with the multi-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam. Deepak Kulkarni was arrested from the Kolkata airport late on Monday after he landed from Hong Kong. He will be produced before a court today.

The ED arrested Deepak Kulkarni under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). A Look-out Circular (LoC) was issued against him earlier. Kulkarni had links with the overseas businesses of Mehul Choksi, one of the main accused in the PNB fraud case. He was a director in a Hong Kong-based "dummy" firm linked to Choksi, an official told PTI.

The ED named Kulkarni in the chargesheet filed against Choksi earlier this year, and a Mumbai court had also issued a non-bailable warrant against him. Choksi, his nephew and diamond jeweller Nirav Modi and others are being probed under various criminal laws after the fraud came to light this year.

According to a complaint by the PNB, they allegedly cheated the nationalised bank to the tune of over Rs. 13,000 crore, with the purported involvement of some of its employees. Both Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi are absconding since the case was registered by the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 06, 2018 10:48 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).