Skip to main content

Three major indian banks's staff caught on camera offering money-laundering solutions

Staff caught on camera offering money-laundering solutions in Cobrapost sting; ICICI, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank initiate inquiries; FM steps in to stem panic

Online media firm Cobrapost today alleged managers of the country’s top-three private banks by market capitalisation — ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank — had been offering ‘money laundering’ as products to people looking to park black money.

Also read: How to launder money and live happily ever after

“They are offering it as a product —  one without brochure,” saidCobrapost Founder & Chief Editor Aniruddha Bahal.

Even as Bahal was unveiling a 150-minute documentary film of sorts, based on the multi-centre covert investigation that used spy-cams, stocks of the three banks were slipping into the red — falling by up to two per cent each.

However, with banks swiftly offering statements announcing internal investigations, the market shed its fears and lifted the stocks. HDFC Bank gained 2.28 per cent over its previous close to end the day at Rs 649.60, while ICICI Bank gained 2.29 per cent to Rs 1,110.75 and Axis Bank 0.5 per cent to Rs 1,354.25.

Later in the day, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said he’d spoken to chiefs of two of the three banks and had assured the allegations were not correct.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor Urjit Patel said the banks had been asked to provide details, but denied that any showcause notice had been sent.

The Cobrapost film, titled ‘Operation Red Spider’, showed several mid-level staffers, such as relationship managers, branch managers and territory managers, offering to convert black money worth crores of rupees into white. Some even offered to deliver handsome returns, “all in white”. One of the most common methods offered by the staff across banks at different centres around the country, such as Faridabad, Delhi, Vellore and Hyderabad, was to invest the money in long-term insurance products. The managers usually offered insurance products of sister concerns, such as HDFC Life, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, etc.

More at: http://www.business-standard.com/article/finance/top-banks-come-under-black-money-cloud-113031400618_1.html

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

LIC Buys Double as Prices Dive - 10 Aug 2011

http://licreddy.com/Content/information/insurancenews_details.asp?NewsCode=4872 LIC Buys Double as Prices Dive 10-Aug-2011 Life Insurance Corp of India, the government's institution of choice to stabilise the stock market whenever it gets wobbly, has more than doubled stock purchases in the past three days as the global debt worry-triggered selloff made valuations attractive. LIC, the country's biggest investor with stakes in L&T, Axis Bank and Grasim, will raise its secondary market purchases this fiscal as IPOs dry up with promoters not keen to sell shares at lower valuations. "We have been buying in the past few days,'' said a LIC executive involved in decisionmaking. "With the market correcting and not many public issues coming up, we would be investing more in secondary market," said the person who did not want to be identified. LIC to Invest . 50k Cr More LIC, which had been buying stocks for an average of . 120 crore in the first four...

Best IELTS and English language training institutions in Hyderabad

IELTS stands for International English Language Testing System. As the name implies it is basically an English test for testing the proficiency of the language in an individual.  Training for IELTS can be taken to pass the IELTS exam or to develop good english language skills. I am giving the training institute addresses for Hyderabad. The test system is jointly managed by the British Council,IDP education ltd and University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations and more than 1 million candidates are taking the exam all over the world. The test has two versions : 1. Academic 2. General training Academic  version is for people who plan to continue their higher education by enrolling in universities in countries like US,UK,Australia,Canada,New Zealand etc.The academic institutions in these countries consider the IELTS score as a criteria for the admission process. General training is mostly for immigration purposes in countries like Australia,New Zealand,Canada etc. It may ...

How to use home loans most effectively for tax benefits

1) Deduction on interest: If you are paying EMIs for a home loan you took to buy a house, the interest component in the EMI can be claimed as deduction. You must be both an owner and a co-borrower (in the loan) to claim tax benefits. This deduction can be claimed starting the year in which the construction of the house is completed. Suppose the construction of your house was completed on August 30, 2014, you can claim deduction for interest for the entire 12 months in financial year 2014-15. So every year a maximum of Rs. 2 lakh can be claimed for a house that you use for your own residence. If your house is rented, the entire interest for the year can be claimed as deduction. The interest payments for the year shall result in a loss under the head 'income from house property'. This loss can be adjusted against in the same year against other heads of income in your income tax return including salary. Therefore, it reduces your total taxable income and the tax you pay thereon. A...