Calling it a case of trade-based money laundering, where accused traders evade custom duties and taxes to generate slush funds, the agency arrested Kamal Kalra, working with the foreign exchange division of HDFC bank, Chandan Bhatia, Gurucharan Singh Dhawan and Sanjay Aggarwal after marathon questioning at its office here.
Emails sent to HDFC bank for its reaction did not elicit a response.
All the accused, ED sources said, were alleged middlemen for at least 15 fake companies, out of the total 59 which were involved in the perpetrating of the economic crime unearthed recently and also being probed by the CBI.
While ED investigations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) claimed that the HDFC employee was allegedly helping Bhatia and Aggarwal for remitting the amount through BoB against a commission of 30-50 paise per US dollar remitted abroad, Bhatia was allegedly instrumental in forming the companies in India and used to remit money to companies based at Hong Kong and was working with Dhawan, an exporter of readymade garments.
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Sources said more arrests of similar middlemen and other operatives, including BoB employees, could take place in the near future.
The agency is also probing the case for forex contraventions under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
The agency said BoB yesterday informed it that "the total amount deposited in the 59 accounts is Rs 5,151 crore and only 6.66 per cent (Rs 343 crore) of this amount has been deposited in cash in the bank while remaining amount of Rs 4,808 crore came through other banking channels.