Pantaloons stores raided in connection with PNB bank scam

By

Maverick Martins

Published
Feb 22, 2018

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd (ABFRL) fashion firm Pantaloons is facing the brunt of its tie up with jeweller Gitanjali Gems, as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have landed at its outlets in connection with the billion dollar scam in Punjab National Bank.
 

The ED recently raided Pantaloons fashion outlets in the state of Bihar and further expected to raid some more to recover Gitanjali stocks and documents in connection with the case.
 
Leading fashion brands and celebrities have already started distancing them from the tainted jewellery firm Gitanjali and Nirav Modi. However, for brands like Pantaloons it is becoming difficult to break ties as it already has sub outlets at its stores.

Gitanjali also has tie ups with Reliance Retail and several other jewellers across the country. ED has requested all partners of Gitanjali Gems to voluntarily surrender all stocks from the firm so that they can carry out the investigation in swift and smooth manner.
 
Commenting on the raids, Patna-based ED officials said Pantaloons has a tie-up with Nirav’s Gitanjali Gems. “Though we could not find Gitanjali’s jewellery stocks at any of the Pantaloons showrooms in Fraser Road and Rajapur Pul areas, we seized certain documents related to the Gitanjali group,” an ED official told TOI.
 
“Fifty-odd major jewellers in Bihar had a tie-up with Gitanjali. We make an appeal to them to voluntarily surrender Gitanjali’s stocks at the earliest,” the ED official added.
 
Recently, the state-run Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India (MMTC) had announced that it has terminated its retail venture with Gitanjali Gems and many retailers are expected to do the same in the coming weeks.