Finance Ministry bars 91 bank loan defaulters from leaving the country

New Delhi: After the whole country has been robbed of hard earned Public money worth of thousands of crores in the controversial Nirav Modi scam, the second one of its kind after Vijay Mallya’s scam, the Finance Ministry has issued directives barring 91 defaulters from leaving the country as a precautionary measure against the loan defaulters.

According to a report published in Bloomberg, The Ministry had compiled a list of 91 people who are either Director of the loan default companies or are directly involved with such companies, barring them from leaving the country, who are intentionally refusing to pay loans even when they have all means to repay the loans.

While according to the new regulations, Banks have also been issued directives of asking its customers to provide passport details of individuals who have signed applications or stood as guarantors for credits of more than Rs 500 million.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also barred banks from issuing any letters of undertaking with immediate effect.

The biggest fraud in India’s banking history carried out by two jewellery groups who conspired with Punjab National Bank (PNB) employees to get fraudulent letters of an undertaking which helped these jewellery groups to raise credit of about $2 billion from overseas branches of Indian banks.

Chief Executive of HDFC Banks, Aditya Puri said “It is logical that someone accused of an offence is not allowed to leave the country because extradition requires proof of criminal offence and it is difficult to establish this beyond doubt,” and “Banks are custodians of public money,” News18 reported.

While a Mumbai based financial advisory company WealthMills Director Kranthi Bathini, said “Those who had funneled money overseas hoping to flee if the recovery push comes to shove will be worried,” While some horses have already bolted to countries with tough extradition laws, it is not yet too late to close the gates.”