80 co-op. banks in Karnataka yet to report to I-T Dept. on high-value transactions

Even as cooperative banks in the State have emerged as one of the main avenues of money-laundering after demonetisation, 80 of the 285 cooperative banks in the State are yet to submit their annual reports of high-value transactions (above ₹10 lakh) to the Income Tax Department. Not just that, a senior I-T Department sleuth leading the probe said most of these banks had not filed their annual reports for many years, in some cases up to six years.

The I-T Department had taken up a probe into cooperative banks even before the announcement of demonetisation. I-T sleuths have till date conducted surveys at 14 major banks that constitute nearly 70 per cent of all transactions. They have uncovered 59,373 unreported high-value transactions made without PAN details so far this fiscal, amounting to a total of ₹7,636 crore. The sleuths have now issued notices to 2,300 account holders for deposits of over ₹50 lakh each as part of these transactions. “Of the 2,300 account holders, we have initiated penalty proceedings against 800,” said a senior official.

Despite the ongoing raids and probe against cooperative banks and even after demonetisation, the banks have found to be indulging in similar high-value transactions without PAN details, I-T sleuths said. “Since primary cooperative banks are barred from transactions in demonetised notes, they are depositing money into other banks. We have obtained a list of top depositors at these banks and are sending out notices,” a senior official said. The I-T Department has now written to the Reserve Bank of India and the Registrar of Cooperative Societies about these cooperative banks for further action.

The official added that they had observed an increase in fixed deposits in banks, clearance of arrears to agencies such as Bescom, deposits in Postal Department, deposits in insurance, among others, totalling to several crores of rupees.

Tumakuru DCC Bank searched

Meanwhile, a team of I-T officers searched the Tumakuru District Central Co-operative Bank on Wednesday. Sources said the 12-member team searched the bank after reports that it had transacted over ₹50 crore after demonetisation. The team has been auditing the records of the transactions.