PNB fraud accused Mistry arrested after reaching India

Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Sandeep Mistry, an accused in the multi-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case involving fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, upon his arrival in Mumbai after deportation from the United Arab Emirates.

Mistry was taken into custody by the CBI's Banking Securities and Fraud Branch and was produced before a special court in Mumbai, which remanded him to judicial custody.

Special public prosecutor A Limosin, appearing for the CBI, told the court that Mistry had been absconding since June 2018, soon after criminal proceedings were initiated against him. According to the agency, he served as a key operational conduit managing dummy entities in Dubai and Hong Kong. The investigators alleged that Mistry directed their daily operations through clandestine, auto-deleting messaging systems named "panemail" and "crickinfo" to systematically destroy evidence.


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"He coordinated false import and export documentation to simulate fictitious trades in diamonds, gold, and pearl jewellery between foreign entities and Indian firms, including Diamonds R US, Solar Exports and Stellar Diamonds, causing a wrongful loss of approximately ₹6,498.20 crore to PNB," the CBI told the court.

According to the agency, Mistry allegedly conspired with co-accused Mihir Bhansali and others to tamper with evidence and coerce witnesses. Its filings said that he threatened dummy directors of foreign companies with arrest, relocated them, seized their electronic devices and forced them to sign documents falsely portraying them as the real owners.

The CBI further alleged that Mistry was involved in removing server data from the Dubai office of World Diamond Distribution FZE, transferring hard drives to Nehal Modi, a Belgian national and younger brother of Nirav Modi, for destruction and siphoning off funds from dummy bank accounts.