Deposits of more than ₹1,600 crore by over a dozen cooperative banks in the vaults of some prominent banks have come under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which has so far arrested 18 persons on money-laundering charges. It has also registered 26 cases of alleged illegal exchange of the withdrawn notes.
During an audit of the branch of a private bank, financial investigating agencies found that 13 cooperative banks had deposited huge amounts between November 16 and 21.
Furthermore, a Surat cooperative bank, under scrutiny for alleged irregularities, had deposited ₹20 crore with the Bank of Baroda. The information has been shared with the ED.
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The agencies also found irregularities in the cash-balance records of the Mumbai-based Shyamrao Vishal Cooperative Bank, involving ₹196 crore.
The cash deposits in 50 branches of 10 banks are being scrutinised by the Enforcement Directorate.
The ED has received details of the new accounts allegedly opened to deposit the unaccounted-for cash in the demonetised notes. At an Allahabad branch of a nationalised bank, over 200 newly opened accounts were used. A similar case has been detected in Ranchi. Dormant accounts in which huge sums were deposited are also under investigation.
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Numerous instances of third-party deposits, made without authorisation by account-holders, have also come to the fore.
About a dozen cases were reported from a bank in Jaipur, and in the same branch, the agencies found out that documents pertaining to cash deposits were not available. In Ahmedabad, a large number of deposit forms had not been collected by a bank. The Jan Dhan accounts in which deposits of over ₹10 lakh were made are also being investigated.
The ED also probed the suspected role of 80 jewellers at 16 places nationwide and has registered a money-laundering case against one jeweller group, for transactions worth over ₹110 crore, on a complaint from the I-T Department.
While the role of shell companies in recycling the demonetised notes is being scrutinised, the Financial Investigation Unit has shared details of such entities and cooperative society accounts. The ED has launched a foreign exchange rule violation probe against the shell companies in Kolkata. Under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, two dozen instances of advance remittances are also being probed.