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Interpol issues 2 silver notices to trace assets of criminals on India’s request
The silver notice was started by Interpol in January this year and is the newest addition to its suite of colour-coded notices and diffusions
NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said on Tuesday that the Interpol has issued its first two silver notices against two individuals wanted by India, which will enable member countries to share alerts and requests for information on their assets.
The silver notice was started by Interpol in January this year and is the newest addition to the global police body’s suite of colour-coded notices and diffusions, which enable countries to share alerts and requests for information worldwide.
A CBI statement said 51 countries including India are taking part in the first phase of issuance of silver notices as a pilot project.
The silver notices enable member countries to request information on assets linked to a person’s criminal activities such as fraud, corruption, drug trafficking, environmental crime and other serious offences.
“It will facilitate locating, identifying, and obtaining information about laundered assets including properties, vehicles, financial accounts and businesses. Countries may subsequently use such information as a basis for bilateral engagement, including bilateral requests for seizure, confiscation or recovery of assets, subject to national laws,” the agency said in a statement.
India has already submitted requests for publication of silver notices in cases being investigated by the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
The first silver notice on India’s request was issued on May 23 against one Shokeen Shubham, a former personnel visas and local law officer, at an embassy of a foreign country in Delhi, in a visa fraud case.
“During the period from September 2019 to May 2022, Shokeen conspired with other accused persons and facilitated issuance of Schengen visa to the visa applicants by collecting illegal gratification ranging from ₹15,00,000 to ₹45,00,000 from each visa applicant,” the spokesperson said in the statement.
The accused, the agency said, acquired six immovable properties worth 7,760,500 Dirhams ( ₹15,73,51,250) in Dubai out of the proceeds of crime. Earlier, CBI also got a blue notice published against the same subject, which is used to collect additional information about a person’s identity, location or activities in relation to a crime.
The second silver notice was issued on May 26 against Amit Madanlal Lakhanpal on the request of the Enforcement Directorate.
Lakhanpal, CBI said, allegedly created digital cryptocurrency by the name of MTC which was not recognised in India for his financial gains. “He lured and induced the investors and collected funds of about ₹113.1 crore from them towards the investment in MTC. He did so without the prior requisite permission and license from the government or Reserve Bank of India in accordance with the law. Ultimately, he did not return the invested amount as promised by him at the time of collecting investments. He embezzled the said
collected funds and cheated the investors financially. To fortify his intentions to lure the people and to cheat them, he impersonated as the authorized representative of ministry of finance,” the CBI statement added.
