Delhi-based lawyer Rohit Tandon was arrested on Thursday by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on the charge of getting over Rs. 60 crore in trashed notes recycled.
The accused had got the cash exchanged through Kolkata-based businessman Paras Mal Lodha and Kotak Mahindra Bank branch manager Ashish Kumar, who had been arrested.
Mr. Tandon had paid Rs.13 crore to Mr. Kumarand his associates as commission to recycle Rs.38 crore in demonetised notes, according to the ED.
ADVERTISEMENT
The cash deposited in the accounts of the bank’s Kasturba Gandhi Marg branch here was converted into 84 drafts. Soon after the fraud was detected, all the drafts were cancelled and the money was transferred to the Income Tax Department.
Earlier, the investigating agencies had seized Rs.13.5 crore in cash from the lawyer's premises.
While Mr. Tandon has purportedly claimed that the entire money belongs to him, the ED is probing to determine whether there were others also who tried to get the cash exchanged through him.
ADVERTISEMENT
The ED probe has revealed that entry operators were used to deposit the cash in the Kotak Mahindra Bank accounts. One such entry operator, Om Prakash Goel, was arrested by the Delhi Police Crime Branch about a week ago.
Goel had allegedly floated a large number of shell companies to convert black money into white. He was also involved in raising fake bills on commission to help other businessmen evade sales tax, said an official.