Top US financial watchdog Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the treasury department has received 3,201 suspicious activity reports (SARs) or red flags involving Indian entities over suspected money laundering, terrorism, drug dealing or financial fraud, The Indian Express reported on Monday, 21 August.
The FicCEN files follows a series of offshore leaks – Swiss Leaks in 2015, Panama Papers oin 2016, Paradise Papers in 2017.
"There are a total of 3,201 transactions which have been listed as "suspicious" in nature and these add to $1.53 billion—but this is only those where complete Indian addresses linked to different entities (senders, banks, beneficiaries) are available," The Indian Express report said.
WHAT ARE SARs? IS IT ILLEGAL?
The SARs are merely red flags that are raised for suspicious transations that could allegedly be money laundering, tax avoidance, weak checks and balances etc. It does not mean "illegality."
WHAT'S THE POINT THEN?
The red flags raised are then pointed to enforcement agencies for further action, if required.
For example, the leads and red flags will be shared with Indian enforcement agencies – Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED) – if they are of suspicious nature.
WHO ALL FEATURE IN THE LIST?
At least 44 Indian banks feature in the list, including Punjab National Bank, Kotak Mahindra, HDFC Bank, Canara Bank, IndusInd Bank and Bank of Baroda, among ithers.
The Indian Express report says that in a majority of cases, the Indian banks have been used to remit funds and bank bank accounts with foreign branches of Indian banks, too, have been used to carry out these transactions.
Transactions related to 2G scam, AgustaWestland and Aircel-Maxis also feature in the FicCEN files.
(With inputs from The Indian Express)