Rs 6,172 crores deposited in Hong Kong-based fake companies.
By Sreejith Vallikunnu
In a multi-crore money laundering scam involving businessmen and officials of public lender Bank of Baroda, slum dwellers were made directors in fake companies overnight without their knowledge.
According to media reports, an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate found that a vegetable seller, rickshaw pullers, vendors, drivers, household workers became directors of 59 companies. There were subsequently “used by the exporters/importers to send their ill-gotten money to foreign countries.”
It is alleged that Rs 6,172 crores were remitted from Bank of Baroda and deposited in Hong Kong-based fake companies from May 2014 to June 2016. Shell companies were also opened in Hong Kong through their contacts.
The Times of India reported that “drivers, vendors etc. were asked to just provide their voter ID cards, PAN cards for which they were offered Rs 10-15,000 per month.”
With the help of these accounts fake current accounts were opened in the Bank of Baroda branch in the name of fake companies.
The imports of dry fruits, pulses and rice were registered in these companies having Bank of Baroda accounts but the imports were not done at all, the New Indian Express reported.
CBI and ED officials are still probing transactions to trace all the players involved in the scam.