Yet another case of money laundering through low-value account-holders has emerged with the Income Tax department discovering Rs. 17 crore in the account of a Hyderabad man who belongs to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category. The person’s identity has been kept a secret as the investigation is at a preliminary stage.
The person is reported to be a small roadside vendor in the city. He is being questioned by I-T officials over his source of income since Monday, but he has not been able to provide any proper information. He claimed during investigation that someone else had deposited the money in his account.
According to I-T officials, the account was first opened in the first week of September in a nationalized bank, with a deposit of Rs. 3 crore. Soon after the internet banking was activated for the account, the amount was withdrawn and transferred to other accounts in the same month.
After demonetisation was announced on November 8, an amount of Rs 14 crore in cash in old demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes was deposited in that account, and that was transferred to other accounts.
“We are focusing on the account which got money from his account. Our teams are identifying the main accused in the case,” an IT official told Deccan Chronicle.
Last month a similar case came into light, after Rs 7 crore cash was deposited in the bank account of an Uber cab driver from Hyderabad. The driver has reportedly accepted that the money belongs to him and he is willing to pay both tax and penalty on it. However, in asking his source of income, IT officials did not get any proper answers.
"The examination of CCTV footage of the bank and nearby areas revealed that the cash deposits were made by two of the driver's accomplices," an investigator told Times of India.