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CBI forwards LR for KP's Swiss bank account

The Central Bureau of Investigation has forwarded a letter rogatory (letter of request) to the government to be sent to Switzerland for details of the bank account of big bull Ketan Parekh, one of the main accused in the multi-billion pay order scam, agency sources said in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The sources said that the LR had been sent to the concerned ministry, which would route it through diplomatic channel to the Swiss authorities for execution.

The account, having millions of Swiss Francs (billions of rupees) deposited in it, has been frozen by the Swiss authorities after the CBI made a request to Interpol for an international probe into the siphoning off of money from India, sources said.

The LR has sought complete details about the account of Parekh, which includes the transactions made since its opening, beneficiaries of the account and the actual amount deposited in the bank, sources said.

It also sought a thorough investigations from Swiss authorities into the route through which the money reached Switzerland, sources said.

The agency suspected Parekh had siphoned off the money, allegedly acquired from the multi-billion scam of over Rs 10 billion of Madhavpura Mercantile Cooperative Bank, to the Swiss bank.

Sources said the Interpol wing of CBI had information that huge amount of money had been siphoned off from India by Ketan Parekh and his associates.

They said the money laundering reporting officer of Switzerland was given the information in June this year and as a follow up, the Swiss authorities informed the CBI in July that an account of Ketan Parekh has been frozen.

Parekh had opened the account in collaboration with a Bahamas-based corporation, they said.

The Swiss officer had informed the Interpol that an information received recently said that "the money was routed to Switzerland through Bahamas," sources said.

"The CBI got in touch with the Federal Department of Justice to further ascertain the facts and provide information to the agency and with active and prompt response, the Swiss authorities informed us about an account in Credit Suisse at Zurich," they said.

The money was routed to Switzerland through Bahamas, a tax haven, they said, adding the contracting partner of this account was a co-operation registered in Nassau, Bahamas.

The agency had also requested Swiss authorities to probe whether Parekh had some other bank accounts and if so freeze it, the sources said.

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