Updated: October 10, 2020 6:22:31 am
110 media organizations in 88 countries partnered with ICIJ and BuzzFeed News to track the Indian banks and entities named in these SARs filed with FinCEN between 1999 and 2017.
The transactions of the cooperative giant Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) with three companies based in Dubai, Switzerland and Singapore, were reported by Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas (DBTCA) to the US financial watchdog, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, an investigation by The Indian Express has shown.
The FinCEN Archives, a global investigation led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and BuzzFeed News, examined more than 2,000 suspicious activity reports submitted to FinCEN by banks and financial institutions on suspicion of money laundering or financial fraud.
In July 2014, a SAR filed by DBTCA noted 14 IFFCO transactions related to transfers and remittances worth $ 18.46 million. The SAR cited “negative information found on the CEO and CEO of Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited for possible money laundering.”
Read | FinCEN Archives: 28 Indian Banks Asked If They Alerted Watchdog At Home
These transactions involved IFFCO; its Dubai affiliate, Kisan International Trading FZE, and commodity trading companies in Switzerland and Singapore.
Some details of the transaction indicated that the payments “were for the subscription fee (but) DBTCA could not confirm the business purpose of any of these transactions.”
The SAR mentioned a complaint from BJP MP Nishikant Dubey to then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh accusing
IFFCO Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Uday Shankar Awasthi on “Financial Fraud and Money Diversion and Money Laundering Activities”.
When contacted, Dubey, a parliamentarian from Jharkhand’s Lok Sabha, told The Indian Express that he had written three complaints, between 2011 and 2013, to Singh and that they were forwarded to investigating agencies, but the result was “unknown.”
According to its SAR, DBTCA approached the State Bank of India (SBI) for information on IFFCO (SBI client) asking if SBI had any reason to
believes that the transactions listed were in some way suspicious in nature. The SBI had responded with “No”. When asked about the complaints against Awasthi, the bank said: “We don’t have any information.”
The Indian Express sent a detailed questionnaire to Awasthi. In response, Kamal Verma, IFFCO Senior Executive Director, said: “We are not aware of any transactions carried out by IFFCO worth more than $ 18 million during March 2014 to June 2014, which were flagged as suspicious in 2014. We confirm that there has been no case of financial irregularity, diversion of money or money laundering ”.
He added: “In the event details of the $ 18 million transaction are provided, information relevant to the transaction may be available to corroborate the authenticity of such payments. During the referred period from March 2014 to June 2014, all payments against imports were made through authorized banks such as State Bank of India, HSBC, RBS, Kotak Mahindra Bank, etc. against submission of documents … and bankers release / remit payments to foreign vendors only after conducting due diligence regarding the authenticity of the transaction and vendors. The IFFCO Board of Directors has approved an elaborate procedure for the purchase of raw materials and finished products. The Commercial Department initiates the necessary actions for the acquisition of said material. All these proposals are being reviewed and approved by the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors. The Managing Director and CEO is not directly involved in the acquisition / purchase of raw materials. “
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