ED detects Rs 104 cr deposited in BSP account after demonetisation

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday detected cash deposits, totalling over Rs 104 crore in an account belonging to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Rs 1.43 crore in an account belonging to party chief Mayawat’s brother Anand Kumar in a branch of United Bank of India here, sources in the ED said.
 

Officials said the agency, ED, as part of its routine survey and enquiry operations to check suspicious and huge cash deposits in banks, visited the Karol Bagh branch of the UBI and found huge deposits made in these two accounts after demonetisation.

Attempts to elicit a response from BSP on the issue failed.
 

They said the sleuths called for the records of the deposits made in the BSP account and found that while Rs 102 crore was deposited in Rs 1,000 notes, the rest Rs 3 crore was deposited in the old Rs 500 notes.
 

Officials said they were were astonished to find huge cash of about Rs 15-17 crore being desposited every other day.

The agency also detected another account in the same branch belonging to Anand, brother of BSP chief Mayawati, where a total of Rs 1.43 crore funds was found.
 

A sum of Rs 18.98 lakh came into account using the old notes after the ban.
 

The ED has sought full details about the two accounts from the bank even as it is understood that the agency will write to the income tax department which has the powers to go into the legality of donations and contributions made to political parties.

The ED had also asked the bank to provide to it CCTV footage and KYC documents used to open the accounts, they said.

With regard to Anands’s accounts, it is understood, that the agency will soon issue notices to him and also intimate the I-T sleuths for investigation under anti-tax evasion laws.
 

The agency has been carrying out enquiry operations at about 50 bank branches to check possible instances of hawala dealings and money laundering after the government scrapped the two high value currencies of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 on November 8.