Operation Red Spider was an anti-

money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

sting operation of an online magazine, '' Cobrapost''. ''Cobrapost'' released video footage, recorded largely by hidden cameras, showing high-ranking officials and some employees of the top three

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n banks suggesting to an undercover reporter methods to launder money. The officials offered safe deposit lockers to stash away the black money, accounts that did not adhere to

Reserve Bank of India Reserve Bank of India, abbreviated as RBI, is the central bank of the Republic of India, and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system and Indian rupee, Indian currency. Owned by the Ministry of Finance (India), Min ...

guidelines, and 'benami' (false) accounts to facilitate the conversion of the black money and keep the depositor's identity a secret. The editor of ''Cobrapost'', Aniruddha Bahal, placed the video footage into the public domain on 14 March 2013. According to Rajiv Takru, Secretary of Financial Services, Government of India, all Indian government agencies and regulators worked together to probe charges. On 14 March 2013

conducted an inquiry into possible violation of its KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (anti-money laundering) guidelines by ICICI Bank,

HDFC Bank HDFC Bank Limited is an Indian banking and financial services company, headquartered in Mumbai. It is India's largest private sector bank by assets and market capitalisation. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has identified the HDFC Bank, Stat ...

and

Axis Bank Axis Bank Limited, formerly known as UTI Bank (1993–2007), is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Mumbai. It is India's third largest private sector bank by assets and fo ...

. Following the enquiry, penalty of Rs 5 crore on

, Rs 4.5 crore on

and Rs 1 crore on ICICI Bank was imposed by RBI. On 15 March 2013 ICICI Bank suspended 18 employees. On 16 March 2013

appointed

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Deloitte is a Multinational corporation, multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four a ...

to carry out an independent

forensic Forensic science combines principles of law and science to investigate criminal activity. Through crime scene investigations and laboratory analysis, forensic scientists are able to link suspects to evidence. An example is determining the time and ...

inquiry of bank employees who are encouraging customers to evade income tax.

References

{{Fraud Financial crimes Corruption in India Tax evasion in India Wealth in India 2013 in India Financial regulation in India Money laundering Organized crime activity Informal economy Corporate governance in India ICICI Bank Banking in India Corporate crime Red Spider Investigative journalism

See also

References