No check on illegal money exchange in McLeodganj

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, February 7

The Una police yesterday seized Rs 30 lakh in foreign and Indian currencies from monks on their way to McLeodganj. The seizure has once again brought to the fore the circulation of black money in various Tibetan monasteries and institutions located across the country.

A large of number of money exchangers, most of them illegal, can be seen operating in McLeodganj, the epicentre of the Tibetan community in exile in India.

They are doing a brisk business by exchanging foreign currency donated to various Tibetan institutions or monasteries by foreigners.

Only the Dalai Lama Society and a few other Tibetan institutions affiliated to it in India have the permission under the Foreign Exchanges Management Act (FEMA) to receive foreign contributions. All other Tibetan institutions or monasteries that have come up in the country do not have the permission.

Due to lack of permission under FEMA, the Karma Kagyu sect of the Karmapa, one of the four major institutions of Tibetan Buddhism, had landed in trouble a few years ago. About Rs 6 crore confiscated from the Gyato Tantric monastery of the Karmapa was considered ill-gotten money and a case was registered against the Karmapa.

In the past decades, the Tibetan institutions in India have grown and have established their own infrastructure. The institutions have been receiving their own followers from different countries from which they receive donations in foreign currencies.

Since the permission is not given to these institutions under FEMA to receive foreign contributions, most of them illegally exchange the foreign currencies received as offerings in McLeodganj or Delhi.

“Sometimes, huge sums are involved in the money exchange business and many influential Indian businessmen invest money in it,” said sources.

At times, the people involved in the business offer interest up to 4 per cent to Indian businessmen who invest their black money in Indian currency.

Assets of some Tibetan institutions in Kangra had come under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) checking the abuse of FEMA in the country. The ED had sent a letter to the district police authorities asking them to probe the source of funding.

Last time, when money from the Gyuto Tantric monastery was seized, an uproar was created. This time, the police trod with caution and handed over the currencies to the Income Tax Department, the sources said.