JK Bank's executive manager among 6 booked by CBI for depositing Rs 12.84 cr in banned currency

Over four years after the demonetisation exercise, the CBI has booked the executive manager of a bank, three firm proprietors and two persons for depositing Rs 12.84 crore in banned currency which was later transferred to different accounts through net banking as legitimate money, officials said.

Based on "source information" received on December 10 last year, the CBI has filed an FIR saying Rahul Chaudhary and Dushyant Chaudhary were operating accounts of Shiva Trading Company, Divyanshi Sales Corporation and Shyama Trading company in the Jammu and Kashmir Bank's Ghaziabad branch.

Taking advantage of their rapport with executive manager Netar Sabharwar, the Chaudhary duo were allegedly operating the accounts instead of their proprietors, also named accused in the FIR, officials said.

The CBI has alleged that the accused duo in connivance with proprietors -- Pankaj Kumar of Shiva Trading, Vikas Rathi of Divyanshi Sales and Ghanshyam Patel of Shyama Trading -- and Sabharwar changed registered phone numbers in the companies' accounts for SMS alert service to be able to use them for fund transfers, they said.

After the government declared Rs 1,000 and old Rs 500 notes as illegal tender on November 8, 2016, Sabharwar allegedly allowed Rahul and Dushyant Chaudhary to make Rs 12.84 crore cash deposit in the three companies' accounts in violation of bank norms and RBI instructions related to cash deposits, they said.

Using the changed phone numbers, the duo transferred this amount to various bank accounts through Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), they said.