Rohit Tandon, Delhi Lawyer Who Had Crores In His Office, Arrested

New Delhi:

Rohit Tandon, a Delhi lawyer investigated for money laundering after a massive stash of crores was found during raids in his office, has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate.

Mr Tandon is accused of laundering nearly 70 crores of black or untaxed money since the notes ban last month. In October, he had reportedly declared an unaccounted income of 125 crores to taxmen after raids at his home and office.

After a tip-off, officials searched his office again on December 10 and found nearly 14 crores in cash, including over two crores in brand new 2,000-rupee notes. Mr Tandon was not in at the time; he reportedly saw and tracked the raid on CCTV camera on his phone.

It took two machines to count the money, which was packed into nearly six suitcases and four steel trunks and taken away in three cars.

Mr Tandon, during questioning, claimed he can account for the money and some of it belongs to clients.

The lawyer is a key link in a money-laundering network that has surfaced with a series of arrests over the past few days. He allegedly has close links with Parasmal Lodha, a Kolkata-based businessman arrested earlier for money-laundering. Mr Lodha, a realtor, allegedly helped the lawyer convert Rs. 2.62 crore in banned notes. Both are connected to a third arrested businessman, Chennai-based J Sekhar Reddy.

A manager of the Kotak Mahindra Bank was also arrested yesterday for allegedly helping both Mr Tandon and Mr Reddy convert over 25 crores in old notes.

Since 500 and 1,000 rupee notes were suddenly banned on November 8 in a move to check tax evasion, there have been multiple cash hauls during raids in the past few weeks. New notes, which have been in limited supply at banks and ATMs, were found in large amounts during these raids.