Bengaluru: Banks under fire for higher deposits

Bengaluru: As part of the nationwide drive to detect ill-gotten money that may have found its way into the banking system, following reports that around 13 lakh crore of denotified currency has been deposited in banks in the country since the announcement of demonetisation, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Bengaluru on Wednesday launched a verification operation at four branches of three major banks including a leading public sector bank – Canara Bank along with Axis and ICICI Banks in.

“The verification operation is part of the nationwide drive by the ED to scrutinize transactions in these bank branches, which have reported higher than normal deposits since the demonetisation drive was announced. The ED, under direction from the Department of Economic Affairs has launched simultaneous verification operations in several banks in other metro cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Kolkata, which have reported higher than expected deposits in the last month,” said an official source.

The verification drive is being held under direction from the Department of Economic Affairs to detect money laundering. “It is a huge process and the drives may or may not lead the Revenue Intelligence and the ED somewhere. The trail of huge deposits will have to be investigated,” the officer added.

According to the RBI, the bank deposits stood at '8.5 lakh crore on Nov 27. The PM’s Office subsequently directed the Finance Ministry and RBI to submit a daily status report on banking activity. The ED has sourced Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) and Cash Transaction Reports (CTRs) of the banks, which are under the radar of the revenue department.