HC refuses to discharge SBC Bank officer in Hasan Ali Khan money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate has claimed that Vishwanathan Venugopal, the SBC Bank officer, helped Khan in opening an account with the foreign bank and thus committed an offence under section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

The Bombay high court (HC) has refused to discharge an official of the SBC Bank at Singapore, booked for allegedly aiding Pune businessman Hasan Ali Khan who is accused of laundering over USD 8 billion in foreign banks.

File photo of Bombay high court. (HT File Photo)

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has claimed that Vishwanathan Venugopal, the SBC Bank officer, helped Khan in opening an account with the foreign bank and thus committed an offence under section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

The agency, in January 2007, registered a case against Khan for allegedly laundering crores in foreign banks. The ED, at the end of the investigation, concluded that Venugopal, being an account opening official in SBC Bank at Singapore, had aided Khan in concealing his crime-tainted money.

The ED then filed a plea, requesting the special PMLA court in the city to take cognisance of offences committed by Venugopal and 10 others under section 3 of the PMLA - direct, indirect involvement in concealing proceeds of crimes or aiding or assisting any such activity.

Venugopal moved the high court after the special PMLA court on November 22, 2018, issued process against him based on ED’s plea and also summoned him.

The SBC bank employee argued in the HC there was no material on record to even remotely indicate that process could be issued to prosecute him under section 3 of the PMLA. He also contended that the order under challenge was passed by the special PMLA court “without application of mind”.

Justice Sadhana Jadhav, who was hearing the case, refused to accept Venugopal’s contention. The judge said that it is not appropriate for any court to undertake a roving enquiry into the investigation at this initial stage. “All that is expected by the court is to ascertain whether prima facie a case is made out against the accused,” said the judge.

The HC also noted that Venugopal had opened an account with the SBC Bank in Singapore based on forged documents and this has been confirmed by the principal accused Khan, and other accused Kashinath Tapuriah and Amlendu Pandey.

The HC then rejected the bank officer’s plea, stating that it could not be said that ED had filed a complaint without any material evidence and therefore the agency deserved an opportunity to substantiate the allegations by adducing substantive evidence and the documents collected during the investigation.

The court said it can’t be oblivious to the fact that this is an economic offence affecting the society at large. “It affects the economic health of the society as well as national economy and therefore, it would not be appropriate to quash the order of issuance of process at this stage,” said the judge.