India's second-biggest state-run bank said it has detected a $1.8 billion fraud at a single branch in the nation's financial hub, the impact of which could extend to other lenders as well.
Punjab National Bank has detected some fraudulent and unauthorized transactions in one of its branches in Mumbai "for the benefit of a few select account holders with their apparent connivance," it said in an exchange filing on Wednesday. "Based on these transactions other banks appear to have advanced money to these customers abroad."
The case poses further questions about the health of India's banks, which are already grappling with one of the worst bad-loan ratios among big economies. It's also likely to create a challenge for Chief Executive Officer Sunil Mehta, who took charge last May about a year after PNB and 12 other lenders were fined for violating rules on some $1 billion of foreign-exchange deals.
