Are they bankers, are they cash mafia?

A meeting was scheduled with one of its managers, Rubal Khanna. As the undercover crew arrived in the facility, Khanna stepped out quietly and took them to an adjacent alley. When the conversation progressed, the PNB manager promised `50 lakh in new currency in exchange for the defunct. His candid plan explained where wads of banknotes might be disappearing after reaching banks - perhaps back into the suitcases of evaders.

"There won't be any problem. No issues with the old ones - be it 500 or 1,000 (bills), ...for around `50 lakh" Khanna said. "It will be done 'hand-to-hand'," he added.

Khanna demanded a commission of 20 per cent on the original value of void currency. The bank official next offered various accounts of his branch to the investigative team to park their fictitious black money in. He set `20 lakh as the limit for deposits into those third-party accounts. Another glaring example of how some bank officials were peddling accounts to hoarders came up when India Today's special team investigated HDFC bank.

Amar Pal Singh, a home-loan counsellor at HDFC Sales, advised stashing tax loot in accounts of some of his colleagues and clients. "I have many colleagues who have many accounts in HDFC. Besides colleagues, there are other people, who we helped open accounts. There were opened directly or indirectly," he told the India Today reporters during their meeting at Ghaziabad. "It's not necessary to withdraw money from one branch. It can be withdrawn wherever cash is available," Singh explained as he sought a 30 percent cut for organizing transfers.

"The commission will be 30 percent. ...Insiders in the bank will be set up for 20. Overall, we'll do it at 30," he said. The HDFC employee was ready to interchange up to Rs 10 lakh in a single day. Next, India Today's team found out how several officials of reputed banks have turned money brokers advising underhanded tactics to potential clients looking for cash hideouts. At a Meerut branch of ICICI bank, the reporters met its sales officer, Abhishek Rohilla. The staff suggested a range of options for concealing black money, with thirdparty and dummy accounts topping his list.

"You should open 8-10 accounts at least and deposit from `2 lakh to `2.5 lakh. You'll be able to dispose of `10-15 lakh this way" he said. "We helped people open eight accounts each. We went to villages and opened 10 accounts (per person). For a number of individuals, we opened 20 accounts each. All their money is stashed. We'll work out some alternative (for you too)."

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