India Takes Steps to Combat Corruption and Black Money
“Unique Code Introduced to Identify High-Profile Individuals Involved in Financial Crimes”
In order to identify individuals such as Vijay Mallya, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, and his colleague Satyender Jain, a unique economic offender code will be assigned. These individuals face significant money laundering charges, and the Government has decided to provide them with a ‘special code,’ similar to the codes given to convicts in prison. The National Economic Crime Record (NERO) is currently undertaking this endeavour.
This unique code will be generated by NEOR, the central repository of National Economic Offense Records, once the relevant information about the accused is provided by a police unit or Central Investigating Agency. Its purpose is to expedite multi-agency investigations against accused entities or individuals. Officially known as the ‘Unique Economic Offender Code,’ it will be linked to an individual’s Aadhaar number or a company’s Permanent Account Number (PAN).
The introduction of a separate code for each suspect aims to streamline the process of launching multi-agency investigations, avoiding the current practice of waiting for one agency to complete its investigation and file charges before sharing information with others.
This alpha-numeric code, based on PAN or Aadhaar, will enable companies and individuals to tag all financial crimes committed against them and provide their profiles to relevant agencies.
The Unique Economic Offender Code will apply to both well-known and lesser-known individuals, as well as institutions accused of financial offences. NEOR, the central repository of data, is expected to become operational within the next four to five months, as confirmed by sources. India’s objective is to present this plan at the annual meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) held in Paris later this year.Additionally, the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau has created a database containing information on 250,000 economic criminals.
“Completion of NEOR and Data Migration for Improved Efficiency”
It is anticipated that NEOR will be finalised within the next four to five months. All data from central and state agencies will be seamlessly migrated to the national repository using Application Programming Interface (API) software, minimising the risk of manual intervention. This technological advancement will enhance operational efficiency and information sharing among central and state intelligence and enforcement agencies. The development of NEOR, estimated to cost around Rs 40 crore, is being coordinated and executed
