Nirav Modi, the billionaire diamond trader who is at the centre of the Punjab National Bank multi-crore scam had changed his status from resident Indian to Non-Resident Indian (NRI) before the incident came to light, Business Today reported.

It is still unclear whether Indian banks, especially PNB, were aware of their borrower’s status being changed to NRI.

All along, Nirav Modi was classified as an Indian promoter of his borrowing companies that were issued Letter of Undertakings (LoU). Many other banks also had a fund and non-fund based exposure to his other companies.

A certified copy of the resolution dated November 6, 2017, by the shareholders of ANM Enterprises Pvt Ltd, a company owned by Nirav Modi, clearly mentions him as an NRI.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today sealed the branch office of PNB at Brady House in Mumbai. No banking operation will take place from this branch and neither will PNB officials enter or exit the office till further orders, a CBI notice read.

PNB detected a Rs 11,400 crore scam in which jeweller Nirav Modi acquired fraudulent letters of undertaking from one of its branches for overseas credit from other Indian lenders.

The scam was started in 2011 and was detected in the third week of January this year, after which the PNB officials reported it to the concerned agencies.

Meanwhile, the PNB filed a second complaint with the CBI on February 13.

The CBI had received the complaint from PNB on January 28 and a case was registered in the case on January 31.