Birla Sun Life, Case 1, S. Sharma, Branch Manager, Associate Partner, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh
Money, especially black money, is the fastest way to be friends with Sharma. He assures us in the friendliest way: “Problem solve ho gayi aapki…main aapka dost hoon aur aap mere dost ho (I am your friend and you are my friend) Your problem is solved.”
There is a party at this branch of Birla Sun Life somewhere in Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh. The Cobrapost journalist enters the office and within a few minutes Sharma escorts our reporter into his cabin. He seems to be a busy man from the number of calls he receives every next minute. However, when we tell him we want to invest a huge amount of money and it is a high profile case, he asks everyone in the room to leave.
Once alone with the reporter, Sharma comes straight talking to business: “Kitna hai cash (How much is the cash)?”
Rs.1 crore right now, says our reporter. Rs. 7–8 crore is expected in the next few days. We raise the stakes.
This grabs his attention, and Sharma begins to explain a plan which yields high returns.
Would the returns be in white, our reporter asks.
Sharma wants to know: “Aapko kaise chahiye paisa bataiye? (Tell me how you want the money back).”
What we have is all in cash, says our reporter. It’s black money and the purpose of investment is to make it white.
He is confident he can turn it into white: “White ho jayega … bus white ho jayega wo fir (Will become white … then that will become white).”
Sharma then explains what he is going to do to make it happen: “Aap chahe cheque se dijiye chahe DD banwa lijjiye cash … hum DD banwa denge uska (Either you give us cheque or you get a DD for that [cash] … we will get the DD made for you).”
To help us sequester the maximum amount of black money, Sharma volunteers to involve his seniors. When invited over to meet our fictitious minister, he agrees and says: “RM ko le aoonga … usse kya hai na ki saara kaam aur bhi 25–30 lakh jitna bhi maximum hota hai … bahut log karte hain yahan par (I will bring the RM [to the meeting] … that will help us to invest another Rs. 25–30 lakh to the extent maximum [amount of cash] … a lot of people do such investments here [with us]).”
How much cash can be slipped in this way, our reporter asks?
As much as the client wants, we come to know. But, for that we need to gain the trust of the regional manager.
Sharma instructs: “Wo toh jitna aap kahenge utna hum kara denge … lekin bus aapko ye batana hai ki mere … main matlab … mere khaas hain aap (I will do as much as you want … but you will have to tell him … I mean … that you are my close friend).”
When our reporter tries to confirm if the money will convert into white, Sharma interrupts him: “Number ek ho jayega … aur bataiye (It will become Number one [white] … what else you want)?”
What else could we ask for?
Sharma thus instills confidence in our reporter, removing doubts we have, if any.
How and when should we deposit all the cash?
Bring in when we inform you: “Jab hum batayenge tabhi deliver hoga … wo kaam bahut aaram se hona hai (Deliver it when I tell you … it has to be done with ease).”
We continue to raise our concern with regard to the safety of our investment and the need to turn as much black money into white.
He says, “Safe aayega aur dus nahin … hum aapka 15– 20 bhi ho jayega … main issiliye RM ko lekar aa raha hoon … aap kahiye thoda sa humein … aapka kaam poora direct karna hai … number ek main ho jayega utna acha hai (It will be done safely … and I will bring the RM … tell him … our job [investment] has to be done directly … the more of it [black money] is
converted into Number one the better it is).”
Sharma asks the reporter whether he has ever filed income tax returns. He suggests us to give the copy of ITR as the amount shown does not matter and it will not be shown anywhere: “Bus formality hoti hai (It’s just a formality).”
Same is the case with PAN card. He talks about a deal of Rs. 21 lakh he made quite recently: “Suniye insurance mein kahin show nahin hota hai … PAN card ki copy lagti hai usmein … samajh rahe hain … wo humare bank ki … actually PAN jaati hai sirf wo apni record ke liye (Listen, it is not shown anywhere in insurance [papers] … a copy of the PAN card is attached … are you understanding? … It is required only for our own record).”
Our reporter is still wary as PAN would reveal our large holdings in other banks.
However, Sharma is not worried because they are dealing in cash so that no bank gets involved: “Bank se toh aap de nahin rahe ho na … aap toh cash de rahe ho ([But] you are not dealing through a bank … you are giving [us] cash).”
The Birla Sunlife official goes on to reassure us: “Jo kaam karayenge sub wo safe karayenge pehli baat (The first thing [I will assure you about is], whatever we will do, will be absolutely safe).”
And yes, he has done several such deals in the past, “Bahuton ka dalwaya hai … kaisi baaten kar rahe ho aap Number do ka dalwaya hai … number ek mein hota kahan hai (I have done such deals for a lot of people [in the past] … what are you talking? … I have got number two [black money] slipped in … [tell me] … where does it happen in Number one [white money] nowadays)?”
We are enlightened, Sir, and privileged to have you on our side!
The meeting draws to a close with a word to take the deal forward in the presence of the minister in his famed Peeli Kothi. As our reporter takes his leave, Sharma again reassures us: “Koi tension mat lo … sub ho jayega (Don’t take any tension … everything will be taken care of).”
On being contacted by the Cobrapost reporter after the expose, Sharma is quite open to our offer and tells us he would involve his Regional Manager for the deal. The moment he comes to know who our reporter is, he says they are not into the business of conversion of black money, but if a party is genuine and if his company agrees he would accept cash transactions.
