The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) booked three Chennai-based men and 48 city-based entities for allegedly transferring over Rs 1000 crore of unaccounted money to Hong Kong in 2014 and 2015.
According to reports, the unaccounted money to the tune of Rs 1038.34 crore was sent to Hong Kong by fraudulent foreign remittances through Bank of India, State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank in Chennai. A total of 51 current accounts, one each for an entity, were opened in the branches of these banks and used to send remittances. The officials who helped these entities to make these remittances have not yet been identified.
The three men booked by CBI belong to Triplicane area in Chennai and have been identified as Mohammed Ibramsa Johnu, Zinta Midhar and Nizamuddin. Of the 51 current accounts, 24 were used to send Rs 488.39 crore as advance payment for imports and 27 accounts were used to deposit Rs 549.95 crore for foreign travel. All these payments were made in US Dollars.
The CBI stated that of the 24 firms that had made payment for import of goods, only 10 firms had actual import business and that too in small quantities. The CBI also added that the goods imported by those firms did not match the amount transferred by them as per the invoices submitted by the firms while making the remittances.
The three men allegedly had received commission in proportion to the amounts transferred through these bank accounts and the time for which the accounts remained active. The CBI has also stated that the bank officials failed to comply with the norms stipulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) concerning foreign remittances and had in fact colluded with the accused to commit fraud, causing a loss to the Indian exchequer to the tune of Rs 1038.34 crore.
A case has been filed for cheating, criminal breach of trust and corruption.