The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Crime Branch (CB) on Friday enhanced its monetary threshold level to Rs 1 crore subsequent to a Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) circular which raised the limit for Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to Rs 3 crore.
This means the EOW will now take up cases of bank and financial institution frauds amounting to Rs 1 crore and above while anything below that will have to be investigated by the local police.
The EOW which has been flooded with white collar crime cases in recent times had to raise the threshold after a revision by CVC in June.
Earlier, it investigated cases that involved fraud or embezzlement to the tune of Rs 20 lakh and above. In the last seven months, the EOW has registered 20 cases.
In 2010, the CVC had issued a circular fixing the threshold limit of CBI at Rs 1 crore but revised it to Rs 3 crore during June last. Basing on the revised CVC circular, the CB upped the limit and any case involving a financial fraud in the range of Rs 1 crore to ` 3 crore will have to be probed by the EOW.
“Looking at the rapidly changing profile of white collar crimes in the State, EOW is going to be the future of CB which is precisely why we have embarked on strengthening it so that it becomes an expert arm equipped with skilled manpower and necessary technology,” CB Additional Director General of Police BK Sharma told this paper.
In fact, the CB had sought permission from the State Government to hire a chartered accountant and the latter, on Thursday, issued an order sanctioning a position on contractual basis.
It has also written to UCO Bank, the lead bank in the State, to depute two officers from Group B and C to the EOW to help understand the complicated cases. The CB has secured sanction from the Reserve Bank of India and the government for this purpose. In recent times, it has had to deal with multi-hundred crore chit fund and money circulation schemes.
“Apart from getting bank officers and CA, CB is also training our officers on banking procedures, accounting and share markets,” Sharma informed. It had its men recently trained in Mumbai and Delhi to understand share fraud, IT statement analysis, accounting procedures as well as the nitty-gritty of company registration.
“We have also secured the latest software on cash inflow and outflow and call details analysis installed so that we are sound on the technology front,” Sharma said.
The CB has also got approval from the government for a half an acre land in the Capital to establish its office for EOW and Special Task Force.