PNB scam: Priyanka Chopra mulling termination of contract with Nirav Modi

Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra, who featured in one of the advertisement campaigns for jewellery designer Nirva Modi, is currently seeking legal opinion to terminate her contract with the brand.

Much admired Bollywood actress, Priyanka Chopra became the global brand ambassador of Nirav Modi’s diamond collection in January 2017. Photo: AFP

MUMBAI: Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra, who featured in one of the advertisement campaigns for jewellery designer Nirva Modi, is currently seeking legal opinion to terminate her contract with the brand. On Wednesday, state-owned Punjab National Bank had detected fraudulent transactions of Rs 11,500 in one of its Mumbai branches and has filed a complained against Nirav and others to the CBI. The Enforcement Directorate has registered a money laundering case against Nirav, his wife Ami, brother Nishal and Mehul Choksi, following the complaint by the PNB. On reports of her taking legal action against the brand for alleged non-payment of dues for the ad campaign, Priyanka's spokesperson said in a statement,"There are speculative reports that Priyanka Chopra has sued Nirav Modi. This is not true". "However, she is currently seeking legal opinion with respect to terminating her contract with the brand in light of allegations of financial fraud against Nirav Modi." Punjab National Bank had rocked the financial world on Wednesday with the revelation that it had detected "fraudulent and unauthorised transactions" worth 11,500 crore at one of its branches in Mumbai. The fraudulent transactions are reportedly linked to billionaire diamond merchant Nirav Modi, against whom the bank had filed a complaint with the CBI last month. Nirav Modi was initially charged last month with causing a wrongful loss of Rs 280.70 crore to PNB in 2017 after hatching a conspiracy with two bank officials to defraud the bank. The other partners who were allegedly involved in fraudulent transactions were Nirav's wife Ami, brother Neeshal and maternal uncle Mehul Choksi, who owns Gitanjali Gems. On Wednesday, PNB filed two more complaints against Modi after it realised that the fraud could involve at least Rs 11,500 crore of its money. The estimated scale of the fraud of Rs 11,500 crore is more than eight times PNB's net profit of Rs 1,325 crore in the financial year ended March 2017. The crisis could impact the bank's profitability this year. Nirav had left India on January 1, and is believed to be in Switzerland. Nirav's wife Ami, a US citizen, and business partner Mehul Choksi departed on January 6.