India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Ravi Kumar, a Chartered Accountant (CA) at the New Delhi-based HAR Associates, for laundering ₹11 billion ($150m) to Hong Kong, SAR, China. Kumar sent Foreign Outward Remittances from various branches of the State Bank of India (SBI) and SBM Bank in Mumbai by using fake Air Way Bills (AWBs) and fictitious Cloud CCTV Storage Rental charges.
The ED found that Kumar had failed to do any due diligence or to verify the authenticity of import documents. Instead, he had issued 621 bogus Form 15CB certificates (forms required to transfer funds out of India), charging ₹1500 ($20) per bogus certificate. He had further signed the balance sheets of Shell companies, enabling them to launder illicit proceeds to Hong Kong.
Overall, Kumar not only failed in performing his statutory duty as a CA, but also became a part of the money laundering operation by issuing the bogus certificates for money.
Source: Enforcement Directorate, India