RBI official held for note conversion in Bengaluru

According to official sources, the accused was identified as Senior Special Assistant K Michael. He was accused of converting old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes worth Rs 6 lakh into Rs 100 notes at the State Bank of Mysore (SBM) Kollegal branch in Chamarajanagara district of Karnataka. The arrest comes a week after the CBI on December 6 had registered a case on December 6 against SBM branch’s senior cashier Parashivamurthy for allegedly laundering Rs 1.51 crore after the government initiated the demonetisation drive on November 8. Large amounts of new notes in the denomination of Rs 2,000, Rs 500 and other lower value notes were kept in the branch currency chest for distribution to the bank’s other branches and state treasury offices in the district. The cashier mentioned the name of Michael during interrogation. Sources said incidentally Michael was in Kollegal on the day of demonetisation on November 8 to refill the currency chest with fresh stock and helped the bank’s cashier to convert the old notes for Rs 100 notes without proper documentation. A special court here remanded Michael to six-day CBI custody.