5,800 companies reveal suspicious transaction of Rs 4,552 crore

New Delhi: Out of the 2 lakh alleged shell companies deregistered by the government, information from banks on 5,800 companies have thrown up suspicious transactions of Rs 4,552 crore, the finance ministry said.

The finance ministry said that vital information has been received from 13 banks regarding the account operations and post-demonetisation transactions of these companies struck off by the register of companies earlier this year.

The ministry said that  13 banks have submitted their first instalment of data. The data received from them pertains to merely about 5,800 companies (out of more than 2 lakh that were struck off) involving 13,140 accounts.

“This in itself is a revealing figure. Few of the companies have been found to have more than 100 accounts to their names. The highest grosser among these is a company having 2,134 accounts, followed by others having accounts in the range of 900 and 300 etc,” it said.

The finance ministry said that these 5,800 companies were having a meagre balance of Rs 22 crore to their credit on November 8, 2016, after separating the loan accounts.

“However, from November 9, 2016 after the announcement of demonetisation, till the date of their being struck off, these companies have altogether deposited a huge amount of Rs 4,573.87 crore in their accounts and withdrawn an equally large amount of Rs 4,552 crore. With loan accounts, there was a negative opening balance of Rs 80 crore,” the ministry said.