The Tribune

THE Bahamas branch of an international bank has rejected claims it handled funds for one of the world’s most wanted fugitives.

The denial came a day after India-based CNN-IBN and FirstPost reporters alleged that well-placed government sources told them cash from terror groups based in Afghanistan and Pakistan has been traced to the Nassau office of Bank of Baroda, one of India’s largest banks.

The man said to be controlling these funds, Darwood Ibrahim, has been accused of heading a powerful organised crime syndicate in India and acting as a co-conspirator in the 1993 Mumbai bombings.

It is claimed several wire transfers, totalling hundreds of thousands of dollars, were received by the branch from three Dubai-based currency exchanges.

Responding to the allegations, Baroda chairman and managing director SS Mundra was quoted as saying: “It is clarified that Bank of Baroda Nassau has been maintaining among others, the account of Dubai Exchange for the last several years.

“It is a KYC-compliant account where transactions take place in normal course of business to established banking channels, according to the bank.

“All AML (anti-money laundering) guidelines are followed. Hence we deny any involvement of Bank of Baroda in alleged transfer of funds as reported in the media.

“We further clarify that Bank of Baroda Nassau operations are conducted strictly within the regulatory framework of host/home country and are subject to usual systemic controls,” it said.

Bank of Baroda is one of India’s leading commercial banks. It has nearly 3,000 branches across India and a presence in 23 other countries around the world.

According to the bank, it has around 40,000 employees and 25 million customers.

Dawood Ibraham is said to be living in Karachi under the protection of the Pakistani army. In 2011, he was listed as third on Forbes’ world’s top 10 most dreaded criminals list of 2011. The US government has named him a “global terrorist” and frozen his assets in America.