BIG PROPERTY DEALS TO BE SCANNED FOR DIRTY MONEY | zameensantosh's Blog

The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has decided to scrutinize real estate deals to track money laundering and related crimes.

The country’s anti-money laundering agency has told states to submit monthly data on registration of properties, a state government official, who did not wish to be identified, told ET.

FIU is a central agency responsible for receiving, processing and analyzing information related to suspect financial transactions. The real estate deals in the country often involve unaccounted cash transactions that lead to money laundering, the official said.

Money laundering involves disguising financial assets in such a way that they can be used without detection of the illegal activity that produced them. Through money laundering, a fraudster transforms the monetary proceeds derived from illegal activities into funds with an apparently legal source.

All property registrars have to send data on property transactions above Rs 30 lakh to income-tax authorities as part of the annual information return. The FIU too now wants data on all property transactions.

The agency also needs the data to coordinate efforts with international intelligence to check money laundering and related crimes. If timely intelligence input is available, an international agency can act promptly, the official said.

Since India will soon become a member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), it is obliged to keep a track of such transactions that could be used to launder money.

FATF an elite inter-governmental body that has been established by the G-7 group to develop policies to combat money laundering and terrorist financing

The body recommends placing real estate agents entities, under reporting obligations. However, India, which recently amended its anti-money laundering law, Prevention of Money Laundering Act, skipped them even as it brought overseas payment gateways such as Visa and MasterCard, money changers and money transfer service providers and casinos under reporting obligation. Banks, stockbrokers and foreign institutional investors are among the entities that already submit data to FIU on a regular basis.

Courtesy:- ET dt:- 03-10-09