Income Tax Dept investigates Rajkot-based cooperative bank that got suspicious Rs 871 crore deposits

The Income Tax department has detected huge alleged inconsistencies in the transactions of a Rajkot-based cooperative bank where Rs 871 crore deposits were made, over 4,500 new accounts opened and more than five dozen accounts having same mobile number initiated, making it one of the biggest cases of black money generation post November 8. 

The department's Ahmedabad probe wing has now initiated action under tax laws and has sought full details from the bank after it conducted survey operations against it sometime back and found large irregularities. 

Officials said the department's investigation till now has found that cash deposits of Rs 871 crore, majorly using the old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000, was made in this bank between November 9-December 30 last year while Rs 108 crore was withdrawn during the same period in a highly suspicious manner not commensurate with the bank's activities during the same period in 2015 or at other times. 

The sleuths have identified at least 25 high-value cash deposits post demonetisation where Rs 30 crore monies have been transacted in an alleged suspicious and unsatisfactory manner and in accounts with purported weak KYC norms in place. 

An I-T analysis report prepared in this regard states that Rs 10 crore funds were deposited in a number of "dormant" accounts post the currency scrap, including in that of a petroleum firm where Rs 2.53 crore was deposited.