CBI raids cooperative bank chief’s premises

PATNA: The CBI on Saturday raided the premises of RJD president Lalu Prasad’s close aide and former party MLC Anwar Ahmed at different locations in Patna in connection with a case of converting black money into white following demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in November last year.
Ahmed, whose culinary skills earned him the epithet of ‘kebab mantri’ of Lalu when the latter was CM in 1990s, is the chairman of Bihar Awami Cooperative Bank.According to an FIR lodged by the CBI’s anti-corruption branch in Patna on Saturday, the ex-MLC’s son Arshad Ahmed illegally opened 41 accounts in the bank and exchanged Rs 70.46 lakh in scrapped currency, thereby cheating the government of India.
The FIR names Abhay Kumar, Prakash Kumar Sinha and Kaushalendra Kumar Sharma besides Arshad as the accused. The former MLC is not a named accused in the case.
CBI spokesman R K Gaur said the raids were conducted at the former MLC’s residence at Sabjibagh, Mother’s International school at Phulwarisharif in Patna run by the family and the Awami bank’s branches at Khajekalan, Muradapur and Raja Bazaar in Patna.
Arshad is the director of the Awami bank and the school while Abhay, Prakash and Kaushalendra are officiating managers of the three bank branches, according to the FIR.
The FIR says Arshad opened the bank accounts in the three bank branches in the name of his school’s workers and employees. They were kept in dark about their accounts.
The case has been registered under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of documents), 468 (forgery for cheating) of IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Income-Tax sleuths had also conducted raid on the former MLC’s residence on January 12 this year and seized documents and computers allegedly showing instances of money laundering.