The crackdown on the illegal exchange of demonetised notes intensified on Saturday with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arresting two more officials of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The Enforcement Directorate (ED) also conducted searches against four Mumbai-based bullion traders and exporters for the alleged illegal exchange of Rs. 69 crore in trashed notes using bank accounts of shell companies.
Senior Special Assistant Sadananda Naika and Special Assistant A.K. Kavin of the RBI’s Bengaluru office were arrested for the alleged illegal exchange of Rs. 1.99 crore. They join their colleague, Senior Special Assistant K. Michael, who was arrested a few days ago for the alleged conversion of Rs. 6 lakh through the Kollegal branch of State Bank of Mysore, and is also suspected to have facilitated the exchange of Rs. 1.5 crore in demonetised currency.
The CBI alleges that the duo, along with some other unknown RBI officials who were deployed for the exchange of old notes, gave away new notes without following the rules. Of the total amount, Rs. 60.3 lakh was purportedly exchanged over just one counter.
The CBI registered another case against an Assistant Commercial Manager (Railway) posted at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai for the alleged exchange of Rs. 8.22 lakh in demonetised notes.
Acting on intelligence inputs, the Enforcement Directorate searched Mumbai’s Zaveri Bazaar premises of four bullion traders and exporters. “While we have so far tracked a deposit of Rs. 69 crore in the bank accounts of various shell companies, the amount may go beyond Rs. 100 crore. Funds were transferred from the accounts to the bullion traders ostensibly for gold purchases. One account with a balance of Rs. 1.2 crore has been frozen,” said a senior ED official.
Similar operation
The official said the modus operandi was similar to the one used to exchange old notes through 30 shell company accounts with a Noida branch of Axis Bank from where the money was transferred to bullion traders. The directorate has registered a money laundering case to probe the Noida accounts, after a person — whose identification papers were used to open an account — lodged a complaint with the local police.
These accounts are also being scrutinised by the Income Tax Department.
On Saturday, the ED also seized about Rs. 30 lakh and 2.5 kg of gold from a tailor in Chandigarh. Earlier this week, the agency had seized close to Rs. 2.2 crore in cash from a cloth merchant there.
In another operation against a Ludhiana-based jewellery house, the IT Department seized Rs. 9 lakh. The jeweller allegedly disclosed unaccounted income worth Rs. 15.40 crore.
In yet another case, the Haryana Police seized more than Rs. 10 lakh cash in new notes from a money exchanger, while five persons were arrested with an unexplained Rs. 37 lakh in Rs. 2,000 denominations at Erode in Tamil Nadu.
