Two Gitanjali officials named in CBI FIR resign

Mumbai, February 19

Following the unravelling of the $1.8 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud, two senior officials of Gitanjali Gems—Chandrakant Karkare and Pankhuri Warange—resigned from the company, according to a regulatory filing with the stock exchanges on Monday.

The names of the two officials were mentioned in the FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation on the fraud.

While Karkare cited personal problem as the reason behind resigning from the post of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the company, Warange said she, as the Company Secretary and Compliance Officer, had sounded off the management to make certain disclosure about the company, which it did not do. Hence she decided to quit. She said in her resignation letter dated February 13 that her "conscience doesn't permit" her to continue with the current position.

The CBI has arrested Punjab National Bank's retired Deputy Manager, Gokulnath Shetty and two others on Saturday. PNB's retired Deputy Manager and Single Window Operator are named in the CBI FIR along with 10 directors of the three private firms namely Krishnan Sangameshwaran, Nazura Yashjaney, Gopal Das Bhatia, Aniyath Shivraman, Dhanesh Vrajlal Sheth, Jyoti Bharat Vora, Anil Umesh Haldipur, Chandrakant Kanu Karkare, Pankhuri Abhijit Warange and Mihir Bhaskar Joshi.

In her letter Warange said: "Being a key managerial personnel and the designated Compliance Officer and Company Secretary of the company I have certain statutory duties and responsibilities towards the stakeholders. The recent event unfolded in the organisation requires the company to make disclosures under the Companies Act 2013 and the SEBI Requirements 2015.

"I have advised the management on the required disclosures to be made. The absence of disclosure will have ramification not just on the company but also on the key managerial personnel," Warange wrote in her resignation letter dated February 13, 2018.

"There is however no consensus in my opinion on the disclosures to be made and that of the management and in these circumstances, my conscience doesn't permit me to continue with my position," she added.

PNB had filed a complaint with the CBI on January 29 this year.

Karkare in his resignation letter dated February 15, 2018, wrote: "Sir, recently my wife has undergone a major surgery called Hemicolectomy at Lilavati Hospital. The post operation recovery is not up to the expected level. This has resulted in restriction on me carrying responsibilities as CFO, and will be very difficult for me in future". "Sir, taking the above factor in consideration, I would like to request you to relinquish me from the responsibilities of CFO of the company," he added. IANS