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It was the American intelligence agencies probing into the 9/11 terrorist attacks that first intercepted the rampant misuse of Indian banking channels for transferring huge chunks of money from one country to another.
Top sources told this website's newspaper that the US investigators had zeroed in on a transaction amounting about Rs 600 crore that had been sent to the New York branch of the State Bank of India from the UAE in violation of laid down guidelines.
Though there was no conclusive evidence to prove that this amount had reached the al Qaeda network, US agencies strongly believe that this amount was part of the terror funding funnelled into America by Laden men.
Following this, a huge fine was slapped on the SBI for not following strict norms that would possibly have prevented the transaction, sources said. The fine is estimated to be around US$ 100,000. An alert was also sent to India spurring intelligence agencies to launch a probe into the issue, which eventually led to the unearthing of transactions through five leading banks and several co- operative banks in North Kerala.
The Reserve Bank of India, sources said, has already completed its investigation into the role played by banks in Kerala. ``They've definitely erred. Even basic norms were not followed while entertaining huge transactions. The RBI will have to issue more stringent norms to insulate the system from similar possible misuse,'' sources said.
The RBI, while pulling up officials of all banks that figure in the Centre's list, has also penalised them with huge fines. ``All banks have paid the fine. They've also given an undertaking that henceforth RBI guidelines would be strictly adhered to,'' sources said.
The RBI, meanwhile, has introduced an elaborate `know your customer' format with a view to preventing any more goof-up.
SEAFOOD COMPANIES NOT REGISTERED: In a related development, the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) has found out that none of the seafood companies that figure in hawala list has been registered with it. The Home Ministry had revealed the names of Good Luck Seafood, Mumbai, and Kozhikode-based National Seafood, Western Seafood, Oasis Corporation, United Seafood, and Asiatic Agency as those figuring in the list.
``We've checked through our offices in Mumbai and Kozhikode. None of these companies is registered. The MPEDA is not a regulatory authority. We'll come into the picture only if any export-related complaints are raised,'' MPEDA sources said.
``The practice of laundering money
through front companies is a time- tested strategy. We've inputs that this
was resorted to even during the days of the Soviet Union to bring
in funds for the Communist parties. But this episode once again shows
how such devices can still be relied on for laundering money,'' sources
pointed out.
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