Reliance Life Insurance, Case 3, M. Raghu, Territory Manager, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
Get a forged PAN card and get a DD for all your cash are some to the ways suggested by this senior Reliance Life manager to launder your money. He would suggests: “Nahin toh doosra PAN card le kar ke pehle usko cash main doosra accounts mein daal karke hum log DD nikalte hain (Or else, we will get another PAN card and deposit the cash with it in some other accounts and make DD out of it).”
The Cobrapost journalist has set up an appointment with M. Raghu, Territory Manager, working at this branch of Reliance Life somewhere in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. He is politely led by the security guard straight to Raghu’s cabin. Pleasantries over, our reporter seeks to discuss his purpose in a separate room. Raghu readily obliges. Once there, in a few sentences he states the purpose of his visit: A politician wants to make some handsome investment in some long-term insurance plan with guaranteed, equally handsome returns. It has to be done in three names: me, my wife and the politician’s wife. Money is not an issue. We can pay as much as Rs. 1 crore a year each for three policies.
Raghu proposes a money-back plan with guaranteed returns for which premium has to be paid for 5 years.
Fine, we would pay Rs. 15 crore in 5 years, agrees the reporter.
Raghu promptly suggests us to invest both in single-premiums and annual-premium plans: “Uska as per your premium hum log sum assured nikalte hai … uska toh nahin ek nahin doh policies aisa kuch hum distribute karte hain… har ek ke naam pe … ek single premium daalte hai … single premium bole to bada amount … every year kuch twenty lakhs twenty-five lakhs twenty-five lakhs … nahi toh fifty… fifty… fifty lakhs ka regular policy aur baaki ka ek crore do crore single-premium policy (We will compute as per your premium the sum assured … we will distribute it [the money] in two policies … in the name of each … we will put in a single-premium [policy] … single premium means a big amount … say a regular policy of Rs. 20 lakh … Rs. 25 lakh … Rs. 50 lakh … and Rs. 1 crore or 2 crore in the single-premium policy).”
The reporter asks Raghu how many days it would take to slip in the entire money into the investment.
“Hardly 10 days,” Raghu says.
Can you suggest us how we could invest our big money without PAN card?
Raghu immediately comes up with an idea: “Without PAN card karna hai?… Doosra PAN card nikaliye (You want to do it without PAN card? Get another PAN card).”
It will be your responsibility to help us with that, our reporter tells him. We would give only the cash, which is kept home.
Offering us a solution, Raghu again asks: “Nahin toh uska DD nikaal sakte hain ya cash hi karna hai aapko (Otherwise, we can make DD for it [the cash] or you want to do it in cash only)?”
We would give you our driving license as address proof and passport as identity proof, and of course all the cash.
Raghu comes up with an idea which no honest banker would ever suggest: “Ek baar pakka karne ke baad kya karte hain naya PAN card nikaal dete hai … with a spelling mistake kariye … kuch na kuch karke PAN card nikaal dete hai … because of these people lots of default log ho gaya hai … bahut log do–teen PAN card lekar rakha hai … wo PAN card rakhte hai … PAN card rakhe toh … wo PAN card ke naam pe IT ko jaata hoga … pata nahi (Once we decide [on the investment], what we do is we make a new PAN card … with a spelling mistake on it … anyhow we would manage a new PAN card … because of this there are many defaulters … many people have two–three PAN cards … they keep the [original] PAN … which means … they file returns to the IT [Department] … don’t know).”
So, with the help of a fake PAN card we could invest our black money and hoodwink the IT Department.
When we ask him if he has done such cash investment like this for some other customers, Raghu continues to expound how many people have become defaulters and their names have been put on CIBIL: “So because of this … bahut log doh teen PAN card le ke rakha … wo best hai na (many people keep two-three PAN cards … that’s the best way).”
Now, he tells how keeping some fake PAN cards helps: “Original PAN card ka naam pe wo netaji ka nahin toh kisi ka (If you can’t use Netaji’s original PAN card … then in someone else).”
Nowhere the politician’s name has to be linked to this investment, our reporter shows the red flag.
Unperturbed, Raghu continues: “Original PAN card se aapka tracking hota … ab hum log name idhar udhar change karke kuch aur doosra address daal ke PAN card rakhe toh this is a separate PAN number jiska tracking nahin hota(Original PAN card can be put on tracking … now if we make some changes in the name and put in some other address, we can get another PAN card … this a separate PAN card that is not tracked).”
You take care of all that, the reporter again tells him. We would only give you the cash.
Thanks to this senior Reliance Life Insurance official we know now that we can easily get around the monitoring radar of the Income Tax Department if we can lay our hands on a couple of forged PAN cards.
When should we hand over the cash, asks the reporter, after all formalities are completed?
Raghu says: “Main aaj signature karwane ke baad kya karta hoon … main seedha mera Mumbai se head se baat karoonga wo cash ka … PAN card ka agar kuch karwa sakte so humara kaam hota … nahin toh doosra PAN card le kar ke pehle usko cash main doosra accounts mein daal karke hum log DD nikalte hain(Today, I will take the signatures … after that I will talk to our head in Mumbai regarding the cash … [ask him] if he can do something about PAN card … so that our work is done … or else, we will get another PAN card and deposit the cash with it in some other accounts and make DD out of it).”
Wow! What an idea. If we can’t invest our unaccounted cash, then we can always get a DD for our cash assigning the transaction to a forged PAN without leaving a trace.
Who will be Raghu talking to in Mumbai, asks our reporter?
Raghu replies: “Amit Rai… director… poora country head hai … toh usse baat karoonga (Amit Rai … director … he is the country head… so I will talk to him).”
Fine! Keeping your superiors in the loop is always helpful, for you not only get the advice but also get into their good books.
Do it for us only if you already have done it for some of your customers in the past, the reporter tells Raghu. What we want is it should be safe for us.
Agrees Raghu: “Safety safety … bahut saara paisa aisa hai (It is safe … a lot of money is [invested this way] there).”
Would we get life cover in the scheme suggested by Raghu?
No, as Raghu says: “Cover nahin dena abhi … cover liye toh kya hota … without cover ke kaisa bhi kuch karke bahar nikalna hai bus (No cover as of now … if you take cover … without cover we can somehow manage to get out of it).”
What Raghu suggests is we should get out of the affair as soon as our purpose of making the money white is served with this investment.
What if the taxman comes knocking on our door a few years down the line? Our reporter raises a natural concern.
Raghu explains how we would no such problem: “Wo paanch saal bharne mein ek toh ye hai single premium ek hi bar bharke chorna but wo paanch saal ke baad nikaal sakte but nahin nikalenge … saat saal ke baad nikle to Income Tax ka kya hota hai saat saal ka tracking hota hai … saat saal ke baad files will be closed hota … aisa humara Income Tax wala wo hi bola main aisa bahut 1 crore ka daala to saat saal baad aisa file kuch hota (If you pay the premium for 5 years … pay a single premium and leave it … you can withdraw money after 5 years … but don’t withdraw … if you withdraw after 7 years, the Income Tax Department keep [your tracking] up to 7 years … after 7 years files will be closed … this is what our Income Tax people told me … I have put in up to Rs. 1 crore many times … the files get closed after 7 years).”
Raghu then explains how useful the forged PAN card would be: “Aur abhi wo jo PAN card aata main aapko deta hoon withdraw ke time par agar kuch ho toh aap dikhana … agar kuch zaroorat pade toh wo PAN card andar rakhna saat saal rakhna safe … aur doosri jagah pe bhi use nahi karna (And the other PAN card I would give you, show it at the time of withdrawal if asked for … if you require it … keep it safe at your place for 7 years … and don’t use it for other transactions).”
We should use our regular PAN card for other transactions, he further suggests.
What a sound advice, to circumvent the law of the land!
Raghu also suggests us to show our income from agriculture to give it a legitimate colour: “Uska income kahan se aaya bole toh agriculture ka kuch rakh dena(If they ask you the source of his income … then you can tell them [as source] something like agriculture).”
Raghu also agrees to provide us a machine to count our crores in bills of 500: “Yahan se hai … le sakte hai…le sakte hai (It is available here … you can get it done here).”
Have you ever made cash investment like ours for other politicians, too? The reporter asks Raghu to know if he is an old hand in money laundering.
Replies Raghu: “Haan hai toh (Yes … I have [done]).”
The meeting ends with both parties agreeing to take it forward in the evening, and Raghu would personally collect the cash.
Raghu is ready to accept all the cash our reporter proposes to put on his table. Despite our reporter telling him who he is and the purpose of our investigation, he has no problem in accepting our offer, and says he would talk to his head in Mumbai
