Black money holders changing currency through NRIs

LUCKNOW: Seizure of banned currency notes to the face value of ₹25 lakh from a school owner and his three accomplices in Para on Sunday night led to the disclosure that black money holders were putting to use the grace period for non-resident Indians (NRIs) to deposit banned ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes until June 30, 2017.

SR Yadav, inspector of Para police station, said the banned notes were seized at Devpur turn when the four accused were heading in a car to meet a dealer on Mohan Road to exchange the notes.

Those held with the banned notes included the private school owner, Satya Prakash Mishra and his three accomplices Namit Kumar, Abhay Raj and Angad. The seized currency was in the denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.

A source said Mishra was in touch with a travel agent, who is associated to a group that is involved in using NRIs to deposit the banned currency notes.

“The group used to take commission from the black money holders and exchange the old notes with new. It used to parcel the banned notes to NRIs living in different countries and get the notes deposited through them in banks,” the source explained and added, “Cops are yet to crack the entire nexus and track the chain of people involved in it”.

The source said the police had released the school owner and his accomplice on personal bond but had informed the officials of the income tax department and Reserve Bank of India about the seizure. He said the IT and RBI officials would further quiz the school owner and his aides..

TREND REVEALED AFTER SCHOOL OWNER, 3 OTHERS HELD WITH BANNED CURRENCY OF ₹25 LAKH IN PARA