ED attaches Delhi properties worth `2.95 crore in Axis Bank demonetisation case

New Delhi: The ED on Monday attached movable and immovable assets worth Rs 2.95 crore of the accused in connection with the case where Axis Bank officials conspired to launder demonetised currency of several individuals.

The fresh attachment order includes three properties in Delhi of the accused including Rajeev Singh Kushwaha, the Chartered Accountant who involved Axis Bank officials posted at Kashmere Gate branch in the money laundering racket.

The Enforcement Directorate had initiated its investigation under PMLA after taking cognizance of a Delhi Police FIR on cash seizure of Rs 3.7 crore in Rs 1,000 bills in Kashmere Gate.

The agency has alleged that Axis Bank officials, Vineet Gupta, and Shobhit Sinha along with Kushwaha had conspired to collect commissions from people in exchange for laundering their demonetised currency. The ED has said the accused converted Rs 40 crore in demonetised currency of several individuals by using it to buy gold from bullion traders through as many as four shell companies under Kushwaha's name.

Accused Mohit Garg and Nitin Gupta allegedly helped Kushwaha collect money from the depositors to transfer it to Kushwaha's shell companies. The money would then be transferred to bullion traders through RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement) as payment for gold purchases, thus turning the depositors' illegal cash into legitimate assets.

The investigation by the probe agency has revealed that in exchange for this asset conversions, depositors would pay up to 15 percent in commission into the accounts of Kushwaha's shell companies.

In addition, Sinha and Vineet along with other Axis Bank officials were paid two percent of the total amount as commission for their services in assisting the laundering process.

Sinha, Vineet, and Kushwaha are currently out on bail. They were arrested by the probe agency sometime in December 2016.