CBI Raids Co-Op Bank Over Irregular Exchanges of Demonetised Notes

Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were discontinued in 2016.

(Photo: PTI)

The CBI, on Thursday, 18 January, carried out searches at 32 places including the administrative office and 17 branches of a Pune-based Muslim cooperative bank in connection with alleged irregularities in exchange of demonetised currency notes worth Rs 40 lakh.

The searches were spread across Pune, Baramati and Lonavala (Maharashtra) and also covered the residence of its CEO Haroon Sattar Sayed and several other bank officials named in the FIR, CBI officials said.

The agency has registered a case of criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery under the Indian Penal Code, besides invoking provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Sayed and eight other employees of the bank, a CBI spokesperson said.

It was alleged that after the announcement of demonetisation by the government on 8 November 2016, the accused officers, in conspiracy with each other, exchanged the demonetised notes of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 denomination worth Rs 40 lakh with notes of Rs 100 and Rs 50, which were collected from different branches of the said cooperative bank.

CBI

The spoksperson said it was also alleged that the accused replaced the original small cash books (cash summary books) of administrative office and branches of the bank, with new manipulated small cash books containing false entries with respect to various denominations of general currency notes to accommodate the exchange of demonetised currency.

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