Bengaluru, Dec 29 (DHNS): After demonetisation, two co-operative banks carried out 2,000 high-value transactions without bringing them to the notice of the income tax authorities.

Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru on Wednesday, R Ravichandran, Director of Income Tax (Intelligence and Criminal Investigation), said the money transacted added up to Rs 1,600 crore.

Since April this year, inspection of records in 14 co-operative banks revealed 59,373 high-value transactions, totalling Rs 7,636 crore. The banks hid them from the income tax authorities.

Reports not filed

The inspections were triggered by banks not filing their annual information reports. Of 285 co-operative banks in Karnataka, 80 have defaulted on their reports, Ravichandran said. The department has now slapped notices on the banks for abetting money hoarding.

The tax authorities have sought more details about the banks from the registrar of cooperative societies.

Tax sleuths did not reveal the names of the banks, saying investigations were still in progress. Between November 9 and 13, Rs 1,806 crore was deposited in 21 district co-operative banks and branches of Apex Co-operative Bank.

Political angle

The state department of co-operation said it had no clue who had deposited such huge amounts of money. The co-operative sector in Karnataka is controlled largely by politicians.

Many senior politicians, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, had written to the Centre seeking exemption for co-operative banks from demonetisation-related norms. They had argued farmers would be badly hit otherwise.

Rs 10 lakh is ‘high value’

Any transaction above Rs 10 lakh is considered high value, and must be reported to the income tax department. The banks failed to make the mandatory disclosures.