Between 2010 and 2017, several Indian banks, regardless of ownership (public, private and foreign) helped facilitate transactions reported by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the Treasury Department for alleged money laundering, terrorism, trafficking drug and financial operations. fraud, the latest leaks suggest.
The International Consortium for Investigative Journalism (ICIJ) obtained the top secret SAR or Suspicious Activity Reports, valued at more than $ 2 trillion globally. These transactions are not absolute proof of fraud or proof of nefarious activity, but are flagged by US authorities as suspicious.
While the data dump is available on the organization’s website, it has so far meticulously tracked 18,153 transactions totaling $ 35 billion, in which links have been established between the sending and beneficiary banks. The transactions took place between 2000 and 2017.
In the case of India, FinCEN archives have so far established sender-receiver connections for 406 transactions involving major banks, including the country’s largest State Bank of India.
According to the leaks, Indian banks received $ 482,181,226 from outside the country and transferred $ 406,278,962 from India. These transactions were red flagged to the US authorities.
Some important transactions are worth mentioning here.
Standard Chartered Bank, in a single transaction, transferred Merrill Lynch Bank Suisse Sa $ 8,173,378 on July 9, 2011. Bank of India received $ 119,548,135 in 19 transactions from DBS Bank between November 4, 2015 and April 14, 2016 .
DBS Bank sent Allahabad Bank $ 144,248,998 through 26 transactions, between November 6, 2015 and February 23, 2016. Singapore-based DBS also sent $ 162,381,261 to Indian Overseas Bank through 21 transactions made between November 3, 2015 and April 14, 2016.
Deutsche Bank AG sent its local Indian division, Deutsche Bank in India, $ 53,520,418 in two transactions between October 25, 2012 and November 26, 2012.
HDFC Bank of India sent Standard Chartered Bank $ 327,999,890 through 11 transactions between September 24, 2012 and February 15, 2013.
IndusInd Bank transferred $ 8,260,868 to HSBC between June 13, 2008 and November 7, 2012 in 55 transactions. State Bank of India (SBI) transferred $ 5,791,055 to DNB Nor Bank Asa in 9 transactions between January 25, 2012 and October 9, 2012. The SBI received $ 23,325,000 from Rak Bank through 6 transactions made between January 2 March 2014 and March 23, 2014.
The state-owned Canara Bank received $ 2,761,523 from National Bk of Ras Al Khaimah Psc between July 24, 2013 and November 7, 2013 through 20 transactions. Bank of India received $ 11,214,476 from Rizal Commercial Banking Corp in 16 transactions between January 13, 2010 and December 23, 2010.
The last tracked transactions were where DBS Bank transferred $ 1,878,000 to the Bank of Baroda between July 5, 2016 and July 5, 2016 in three transactions.
Even a small bank like Tamilnad Mercantile Bank received $ 185,626 from Standard Chartered Bank between December 9, 2010 and December 24, 2010 in three transactions.
So far ICJI has named these Indian banks in the doubtful transactions: State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, Indusind Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Canara Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Karur Vysya Bank, Tamilnad Mercantile Bank, Standard Chartered Bank (operations in India), Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Allahabad Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Indian Bank, Deutsche Bank (operations in India ), UCO Bank, Karnataka Bank, RBS, Andhra Bank and Vijaya Bank.
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