Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday arrested Kotak Mahindra Bank manager for his alleged links with hawala trader Parasmal Lodha and Delhi-based lawyer Rohit Tondon. According to sources in the ED said that the manager named Ashish Kumar at the Kasturba Gandhi Marg branch of the bank was arrested for allegedly laundering over Rs 25 crore in old currency notes linked to industrialist J. Shekhar Reddy and lawyer Rohit Tondon.
Manager has alleged contacts with minimum baron J. Shekhar
The income tax department had conducted a raid at the branch on December 23. Ashish, manager of the bank belongs to Haryana was produced in a Delhi Court on Wednesday afternoon.
Kotak Mahindra Bank said it has already suspended the accused manager
Lodha who is associated with real estate and mining was captured at the Mumbai airport while he was trying to flee to Malaysia. At the same time, the bank said in its statement said the bank has suspended the services of the employee and that it proactively informed the Financial Intelligence Unit about the suspicious transactions.
“The Kotak Mahindra Bank on its own, on observing the nature of transactions in these accounts, proactively filed a report with FIU for further investigations well in time. On subsequent investigation by the Income Tax authorities, the Bank, as per their instructions, has deposited the entire amount that was credited with these accounts with the Income Tax department,” the bank said in a statement.
