Jalna raid: Cash was stashed in a cooperative bank’s locker

Nagpur: The income tax raid on two steel manufacturers at Jalna, which led to seizure of Rs56 crore, has brought out yet another classic case of cooperative banks being used as conduit for black money.
Out of the Rs56 core, around Rs21 crore were seized from lockers of an urban cooperative in Jalna town. In a modus operandi often seen elsewhere too, accounts were opened in the names of different individuals. Large lockers were allotted in their names. One of the businessmen covered in the raid was on the board of directors of the cooperative.
It was also seen that the accounts were opened with little regard to KYC norms, as vague details had been filled in. The lockers in the names of such account holders were only used for stashing cash. The money was found in around 10 lockers during the search, which made headlines due to the massive amount of cash seized.
It is learnt that the persons in whose names the lockers were opened were connected to the businessmen raided. The income of these persons did not match the amount of cash that was found in their lockers, said sources.
So far, the cash has not been owned up by the persons in whose names the lockers were registered. The individuals, who were summoned on the basis of the locker records, did not turn up. Finally, the cash had to be seized.
Source says that the incident reveals a bigger picture of cooperative banks and private vaults being used to stash unaccounted cash.
Sources said even the flow of cash continues unbridled in the economy. The huge seizure itself shows that cash movement happens easily through hawala channels, reaching various destinations. There is a likelihood that the cash in the lockers would have soon headed to another destination or was accumulated to be parked in a benami asset, said sources.
Lately, over a crore was seized in Nagpur too. The standard explanation in most cases is that the funds were meant for purchase of farm produce and farmers prefer cash, a source said.