List of agencies dealing with black money; also on intelligence “think-tank”

THE White Paper on Black Money presented in Lok Sabha by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday listed out the agencies that deal with unaccounted wealth and its consequences in one way or the other. Is there a “Think Tank” among intelligence agencies? Yes, there is one. Read on:

CBDT

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is part of the department of revenue in the ministry of finance. It headed by a chairman and comprises six members. The investigation wings are headed by the Director General of Income Tax (Investigation). The Director General of Income Tax (International Taxation) is in charge of taxation issues arising from cross-border transactions and transfer pricing. The Income Tax department has offices in more than 740 buildings spread over 510 cities and towns across India and has over 55,000 employees.

Enforcement Directorate (ED)

Established in 1956 to administer the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act 1973 (FERA), the ED is currently entrusted with the investigation and prosecution of money-laundering offences and attachment or confiscation of the proceeds of crime under the Prevention of Money Laundering. After it was restructured in March 2011, the number of offices was increased from 22 to 39. The total strength of officers and staff is 2063. The Directorate will have headquarters in New Delhi, five regional offices at New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Chandigarh, besides 11 zonal offices and 22 sub-zonal offices at various places.

Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-IND)

The FIU-IND was established vide an Office Memorandum dated November 18, 2004 for coordinating and strengthening efforts for national and international intelligence by investigation and enforcement agencies in combating money laundering and terrorist financing. It is the national agency responsible for receiving, processing, analysing, and disseminating information relating to suspect financial transactions. It is an independent body reporting to the Economic Intelligence Council headed by the finance minister. For administrative purposes, the FIU-IND is under the control of the department of revenue.

The FIU-IND receives over 7 lakh Cash Transaction Reports (CTRs) and 1500 Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) every month.

Central Board of Excise and Customs and DRI

The CBEC is a part of the Department of Revenue under the ministry of finance. It deals with the tasks of formulation of policy concerning levy and collection of customs and central excise duties, prevention of smuggling, and administration of matters relating to customs, central excise and narcotics to the extent under the CBEC’s purview. The Board is the administrative authority for its subordinate organizations, including Custom Houses, Central Excise Commissionerates, and the Central Revenues Control Laboratory.

The Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI) is the apex intelligence organization functioning under the CBEC. It is entrusted with the responsibility of detecting cases of evasion of central excise and service tax.

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) also functions under the CBEC. It is entrusted with the responsibility of collection of data and information and its analysis, collation, interpretation and dissemination on matters relating to violations of customs laws and, to a lesser extent, anti-narcotics law. It maintains close liaison with the World Customs Organisation, Brussels, the Regional Intelligence Liaison Office at Tokyo, INTERPOL, and foreign customs administrations. It is headed by a Director General in New Delhi and is divided into seven zones all over India.

 CEIB: The Think Tank on Economic Offences

 The Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB) functioning under the ministry of finance is responsible for coordination, intelligence sharing, and investigations at national as well as regional levels amongst various law enforcement agencies. As per the charter of the CEIB, it has been assigned the responsibility of acting as the ‘think tank’ on issues relating to economic offences including data collection and collation policies and preparation and maintenance of dossiers of tax evaders, violators of economic laws, white collar operators, etc. It also examines emerging trends and changing dynamics of economic offences. It takes note of the nexus among various stakeholders of these activities, their modi operandi and suggests measures for effectively dealing with them. It also analyses the macroeconomic impact of such activities and is the nodal agency for coordination at international level.

The existing coordination mechanism in the CEIB consists of Regional Economic Intelligence Councils Institutions (REICs) at regional level and the Group on Economic Intelligence and meetings of the heads of investigating agencies under the department of revenue at the centre. While the Group on Economic Intelligence is focused on matters relating to intelligence sharing, the REICs and heads of agencies meetings cover both intelligence and investigations.

The Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN)

It supervises the cultivation of opium poppy in India and issues necessary licences for manufacture, export and import of narcotics drugs and psychotropic substances. It monitors India’s implementation of the United Nations Drug Control Conventions and also interacts with the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) in Vienna and the competent authorities of other countries to verify the genuineness of a transaction prior to authorising shipments.

Serious Frauds Investigation Office (SFIO)

The SFIO functions under the ministry of corporate affairs and takes up for investigation complex cases having inter-departmental and multidisciplinary ramifications and substantial involvement of public interest, either in terms of monetary misappropriation or in terms of persons affected. It also takes up cases where investigation has the potential of contributing towards a clear improvement in systems, laws, or procedures.

Bureau of Immigration (BOI)

There are 78 immigration check-posts (ICPs) in the country of which 26 are at airports, 20 at seaports, while 32 are land ICPs. Of these 78 ICPs, 12 are controlled by the BOI, while the remaining 66 are managed by state governments on behalf of the government of India.

Economic Intelligence Council (EIC)

It came into existence in 2003, and is chaired by the finance minister and comprises senior functionaries of various ministries and intelligence agencies, including the Governor of the RBI and the chairman of SEBI. The EIC meets at least once a year to discuss and take decisions regarding trends in economic offences and strategies on intelligence sharing, coordination, etc. The implementation of decisions taken by the EIC is monitored by the Working Group on Intelligence Apparatus, set up for this purpose within the EIC.

National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)

It was set up with the objective of empowering the Indian police services with information technology and criminal intelligence with a view to enabling them to effectively and efficiently enforce the law. It therefore creates and maintains a secured national database on crimes, criminals, property, and organised criminal gangs for use by law enforcement agencies.

National Investigation Agency (NIA)

It is a specialized and dedicated investigating agency set up under the National Investigation Agency Act to investigate and prosecute scheduled offences, in particular offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, including financing of terrorism. The NIA has concurrent jurisdiction with the individual states, thereby empowering the central government to probe terror attacks in any part of the country.

The other organizations which play important roles in fighting black money include:

a)      Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)

b)      Economic Offences Wing of the State Police

c)      Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB)

d)      High Level Committee (HLC)