Magnitude of Bank of Baroda case to be clear after completion of probe: FM Jaitley

New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said the magnitude of the alleged black money transfer through state-owned Bank of Baroda (BoB) will only be known after completion of the multi-disciplinary probe.

"It's a matter of investigation and it is some unscrupulous people who have managed to beat the system," Jaitley said when asked if he expects involvement of more banks in this issue.

"Now you have CBI investigating, you have ED investigating, you have SFIO investigating, you have tax people looking into it.

So, once these investigative agencies form a prima facie opinion, its only then the magnitude, the nature and the kind of people involved in it will become clear," he told a television channel.

Last week, CBI and the Enforcement Directorate started investigating the matter. It is alleged that Rs 6,172 crore black money was remitted from Bank of Baroda to Hong Kong which was passed off as payments for non-existent imports like cashew, pulses and rice.

It is also alleged that the amount was deposited in 59 accounts of the bank's Ashok Vihar branch (New Delhi) in cash as advance for import and the money was sent to some select companies in Hong Kong.

The branch opened 59 current accounts from May 2014 to June 2015 through which large foreign exchange remittances were made, the bank said in a regulatory filing.

During this one year, a total of 5,853 outward foreign remittances aggregating USD 546.10 million (around Rs 3,500 crore) were made through 38 current accounts to various overseas parties numbering some 400, mainly based in Hong Kong and one in the UAE.