An image of an Axis Bank cheque purportedly signed by fugitive businessman Nirav Modi is doing rounds on the internet with the claim that he paid the Indian National Congress Rs 98 crore in 2011. However, the cheque is fake.
This comes after a UK extradition judge ruled on 26 February that the diamantaire, wanted in the over Rs 13,500-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam, can be extradited to India to stand trial.
CLAIM
A screenshot of old Facebook posts, carrying the viral image of the cheque has been shared on social media, alleging that the Congress party received funds from Modi through corruption.
The image was viral on Facebook and Twitter.
The claim has been around since 2018.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
We found several red flags in the viral cheque.
The word ‘ninety’ has been misspelt as ‘ninenty,’ The name below the signature has been scratched out. The cheque is from the North Lakhimpur branch in Assam, whereas Nirav Modi is from Mumbai.
Further, an official spokesperson of Axis Bank told The Quint’s WebQoof team, “The image of the said cheque brought to our notice is counterfeit.”
We also looked up the donations declared by the Indian National Congress in the year 2011-12, in its contribution report to the Election Commission of India. The party had declared 342 donations of more than Rs 20,000. However, we did not find any sum larger than Rs 2 crore.
According to myneta.info, the Congress party had declared a total of Rs 9.59 crore in donations for the year 2011-12.
Evidently, a fake cheque in the name of the diamond merchant is doing rounds on the internet. The claim had earlier been debunked in 2018 by several fact-checking websites.
(Editor’s note: The story has been updated to include a quote by Axis Bank’s official spokesperson.)
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