FinCEN exposes Indian banks' involvement in money laundering, financial crimes

The US Department of Treasury’s watchdog, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), released a revelatory report that exposed the involvement of at least 44 Indian banks in money laundering of $1.53 billion through 3,201 suspicious transactions.

The report released by FinCEN exposed the money laundering and facilitation to terrorists in India after the US banks filed a set of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) against 44 Indian banks over transactions made by different entities and individuals between 2011 and 2017.

The Indian banks flagged by the watchdog include state-owned Punjab National Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Canara Bank, IndusInd Bank, Bank of Baroda and others.

It emerged that antiques’ smugglers were also found involved in money laundering in India, whereas, the laundered money was also used in Indian Premier League (IPL). The Indian banks have reportedly facilitated money launderers for their wrongdoing through gold and diamonds, according to the report.

The report also raised questions regarding the transfer of funds and its utilisation when a UN report spotted the presence of terrorist groups in Kerala and Assam states of India.

The FinCEN probe traced more than $2 trillion transactions between 1999 and 2017. Nearly 90 financial institutions had flagged the suspicious transactions in over 2,100 reports, said local media reports.