Banks, insurers in cahoots for money laundering: Cobrapost

Moneycontrol Bureau

Media website Cobrapost Monday said that banks and insurance companies were acting hand-in-glove to help their customers launder black money and pass it off as legitimate income.

Life Insurance Corporation, State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Tata AIG, Dhanlaxmi Bank, Indian Bank, IDBI Bank, Yes Bank, Federal Bank, Reliance Life Insurance, Birla Sunlife are among those alleged to be helping customers launder black money, according to Cobrapost.

Here’s an extract from the Cobrapost release, on the alleged nexus between banks and insurance companies.

"Another fact that comes to the fore is a nexus between the banks and the insurance companies. If the banks don’t have their own insurance companies, they have joint-ventures with private insurers. Yes Bank, for instance, has a tie-up with Bajaj Allianz, which would question an investor only when the investment crosses Rs. 1 crore, as we came to know from a Yes Bank official.

And such investments can be done in cash. Whenever we went about proposing to bankers, public or private, that we wanted to invest our black money in insurance, they immediately called the managers of their insurance associates in our presence or sought their advice on phone, making it amply clear that banks and insurance companies are hand in glove."

Also read: Offering help to launder money also punishable