CBI, ED register cases in I-T seizure of cash from B'luru

CBI and Enforcement Directorate have registered cases in connection with the Income Tax Department's seizure of over Rs 5.86 crore from four individuals, out of which Rs 5.63 crore were in new currency notes introduced post-demonetisation.
CBI sources said it is alleged in the FIR that bank managers of Karnataka Bank and Dhanlaxmi Bank, Suryanarayana Bairy and Umashankar Renuka, respectively, entered into a criminal conspiracy with four individuals, which included two state government officials, to "dishonestly and fraudulently" facilitated exchange of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes, which ceased to be legal tender after November 8, with new notes of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500.

They said the managers had allegedly entered into the criminal conspiracy with Secure Value India Limited, Ibrahim Shereef, Jaychandra, Nazeer Ahmed and Chandrakanth Ramalingam to facilitate exchange of notes.
The agency has registered a case of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery among others and slapped provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Bairy, Renuka, Secure Value India, Shereef, Jaychandra, Ahmed and Ramalingma besides unknown others.
The sources also said the Enforcement Directorate has registered a separate case under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act on the basis of the CBI FIR to probe the flow of proceeds of crime.

In the biggest-ever seizure of cash in new currency on December 1, the Income Tax department had unearthed over Rs 5 crore even as it detected unaccounted income worth Rs 152 crore after it conducted searches in a dozen premises in Bengaluru and other locations.

The Income Tax department carried out searches and recovered Rs 5.17 crore from Shereef which included Rs 4.80 crore of new notes, Rs 25 lakh from Jaychandra with Rs five lakh in new currency, Rs 44 lakh from Ahmed with Rs 32.70 lakh in new notes and Rs 46 lakh of new currency from Ramalingam which were allegedly diverted by Bairy and Renuka on the basis of forged documents, the FIR alleged.

It is alleged that the bank managers diverted the new currency notes through agents by falsifying bank accounts on the basis of forged and fabricated documents of identity and address proofs in the name of several individuals to camouflage these exchanges as genuine transactions.
CBI has alleged in the FIR that that Renuka handed over Rs 1.30 crore to Secure Value India Limited between November 8 and November 29 which were meant to be deposited in 32 ATMs in Bengaluru, but the company wilfully diverted it to Sherif, Jaychandra,, Ahmed and Ramalingam, besides others.
It is alleged that Secure Value India used a network of agents and middlemen to help individuals convert their currency notes of individuals on a massive scale.

The FIR alleged that bank managers showed that the currency notes have been genuinely exchanged by people through ATMs and bank counters.