Kotak Mahindra Bank branch manager held over Rs34 cr deposit

A branch manager of Kotak Mahindra Bank in New Delhi has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering probe where nine alleged fake accounts with deposits worth Rs34 crore were detected post-demonetisation.

"The manager has been arrested under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and will be produced before the court for further custody," ED officials told Press Trust of India.

Last week, two Kotak Mahindra Bank customers had been arrested for depositing the Rs34 crore at a branch in New Delhi.

''With reference to the ongoing investigation of the said accounts, Kotak Mahindra Bank had proactively informed Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the bank has already suspended the services of its employee Ashish Kumar. The Bank has zero tolerance towards employees not adhering to its code of conduct, and takes strict measures against them,'' said Rohit Rao, Spokesperson, Kotak Mahindra Bank.

The bank said it has a robust system of regularly and proactively filing necessary reports with the FIU for all large transactions. ''The bank has on record all necessary KYC documents, including PAN card,'' added Rao.

Kotak Mahindra Bank also said that it had 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,'' Rao said.

The Kotak Mahindra Bank spokesperson stated, ''As can be seen from the bank's actions, the bank has fully cooperated and communicated with the relevant authorities, and has demonstrated the highest standards of compliance, and the bank will continue to do so.''