3 sent to judicial custody over money-laundering charges
Parasmal Lodha, Rohit Tandon and Ashish Kumar were sent to 14 days of judicial custody by Saket court in connection with a money laundering case; the three have filed bail applications before the court. While Kumar and Tandon's bail plea will be on 4 January, Lodha's plea is on 6 January. The three had been extensively questioned by the Enforcement Directorate.
Kolkata-based businessman Paras Lodha and a Delhi-based lawyer Rohit Tandon, had set up elaborate networks to facilitate conversion of demonetized currency. Both had come under Enforcement Directorate's scanner: Lodha was arrested for laundering Rs.25 crore and Tandon was arrested for laundering crores on behalf of others with Lodha's help. Reportedly, this money laundering racket was being facilitated with the involvement of senior bank officials.
A tax raid on office premises of Rohit Tandon located in Greater Kailash-I led to a seizure of Rs.13.65 crore in cash. Subsequent income tax raids led to discovery of unaccounted income worth Rs.125 crore.
In yet another instance of wrongdoing in relation to demonetized currency notes, a Manager of Kotak Mahindra bank at the KG Marg branch in Delhi has been arrested. The manager was taken into custody by Enforcement Directorate for allegations of money laundering and illegal conversion of old notes. He was reportedly involved with the infamous money laundering cases of Paras Lodha and Rohit Tandon.
Nine fake accounts have been unearthed by Enforcement Directorate in Kotak Mahindra's KG Marg branch in New Delhi. These accounts reflected nearly Rs.34 crore in unaccounted money and two prior arrests have been made in connection with this last week. Further investigations were conducted and branch's manager, Ashish Kumar was arrested under 'Prevention of Money Laundering Act' for his involvement in this regard.
Ashish Kumar accused of money laundering, has already been suspended by Kotak Mahindra's management. The spokesperson of Kotak Mahindra, said they had "zero tolerance towards employees not adhering to its Code of Conduct, and takes strict measures against them." He further stated: "As can be seen the bank has demonstrated the highest standards of compliance, and will continue to do so."
Rohit Tandon was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday night in a money laundering case; he is set to be produced in front of a court on Thursday. On 11th Decmber, Tandon's firm T&T Law was raided by the Crime Branch and Delhi Police. Rs.13.5 crore was seized. Out of these, Rs.2.6 crore was in new Rs.2,000 notes.
