NSEL scam: Whiff of black money

NEW DELHI: As a multi-agency probe continues in the Rs 5,600-crore NSEL payment fiasco, investigators have come across fresh evidence suggesting routing of black money by sister concerns and associates of various brokers who had traded on the platform of the spot exchange.
A high-level committee constituted by the Bombay high court, in an interim order, has favoured investigation into source of funds of the brokers and various investors, many of whom are suspected to have been sister concerns or associates of the same brokers.
Sources said the committee and other regulator agencies have found major discrepancies in the data and details submitted by various investors as against the information provided by the NSEL. These discrepancies include submission of wrong PANs (permanent account numbers), raising doubt about source of funds.
A senior regulatory official said the NSEL case is very uniquebecausebrokersthemselves appear to be the real investors. There are also complaints against some brokers that they created fake ledger accounts in the name of their clients without their knowledge, sources said.
The investigators are soon expected to conduct a detailed audit of the account books, bankaccountsandincometax returns of investors and the NSEL, in connection with at least eight brokers and their trading clients.