ED arrests Maha co-op society ex-manager for laundering

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 13

The Enforcement Directorate on Sunday said it had arrested a former manager of a Maharashtra-based cooperative society for his alleged involvement in laundering money worth several crores through hawala route.

The ED said Machindra Khade was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act for his involvement in facilitating illegal cash deposits in various bank accounts of the society, which were subsequently layered and then fraudulently remitted to Hong Kong by submission of fake import documents in the guise of import of diamond. It further said the accused was former manager of Renukamata Multi-State Cooperative Urban Credit Society.

The agency had begun probing the cooperative society on the basis of an FIR filed by the state police.

The ED said its probe found that Khade “opened and operated” multiple bank accounts in the name of persons/company, which were used for depositing huge cash in the society's account.

“The beneficiaries’ transactions were successfully camouflaged as the RTGS/NEFT transactions would invariably reflect the name of the cooperative society. Khade was instrumental in pursuing people in opening bank accounts for monetary consideration,” it alleged. The agency claimed Khade obtained the signatures of account holders on blank RTGS slips that he kept in his custody.”