The Incredible Banker (22 page)

'Interesting,' said Bhaskar.

'What's interesting about it, Bhaskar?'

'Why would he buy groceries for such a large value twice a month? No household needs this kind of supply.' Karan was surprised by this piece of information.

'Hmm...interesting question. Maybe he was buying supplies to feed his entire band of villagers and tribals.'

'Possible!' Bhaskar paused for a few seconds and then suddenly asked, 'What is his credit limit?'

'Three lakh.'

'Then why is he paying
43,000 and
48,000 twice in a month? Both these transactions are well within his credit limit. Even if he had paid
100,000 at the end of the month, after the statement is generated, he would not be charged any interest?'

'Yes, Bhaskar. All credit cards give you the facility to spend upto your credit limit. If you are within your credit limit and pay the entire outstanding before the due date, no interest is charged. And you normally get three weeks from the time the statement is generated, to make the payment. Assuming that Francis had not paid up but incurred both the expenses in the month, his payment due would have been
91,000 and he would have had to pay the amount within three weeks of his statement generation date. And had he paid the entire amount, he would not have had to pay any interest for sure.'

Karan was a little surprised by Bhaskar's simple question and asked him, 'But tell me, Bhaskar, which credit card do you use?'

'I don't use any card, Karan. I don't understand these calculations, so I always use cash. And worse, these days income tax authorities are closely tracking the spending on cards. I don't want to unnecessarily come under their scanner.'

Which world are you living in, Bhaskar? The tax authorities normally raise their antenna only if you spend more than two lakh per annum on your card account, or if you pay over ?50,000 in cash whenever you make a payment into your card account. Otherwise the tax authorities don't even look at it.' Karan smiled in disbelief.

'Maybe...I belong to the old school of thought.'

'Hahaw...,'laughed Karan.

'Ok, coming back to Francis. His behaviour is very unlike the Naxalites. Naxals are always short of cash. They keep looking for sympathisers for funding, and options to raise capital. They indulge in looting, extortion, etc., to raise money to buy arms and to feed the poor. They even commit murders when their ends are not met. It is suspected that the Naxal movement is funded by a section of the cash-rich mining industry. A significant number of mines in Central India are located in the Naxal strongholds. I know for sure that a number of mine owners pay protection money to these Naxals. Sometimes it is in cash, sometimes in kind. That said, the Naxals are always looking for money. I cannot think of a stage in the evolution of the Naxalite movement when they have had ample cash and resources,' Bhaskar said.

'Ok, how is it relevant?'

'Karan, you idiot, tell me, will someone short on cash ever pay the full amount before time, especially when the amount involved is well within your credit limit. If Francis was hard pressed for cash, he wouldn't pay
48,000 and 43,000 into the card account well before the due date.'

'I see your point,' Karan's eyes lit up.

'Can you see if he has done this in other months, or if July was an aberration?'

Karan looked through the entire statement for the year. Every transaction made was succeeded by a corresponding payment well before the due date. There was not a single statement in the last one year when he had to pay anything at the statement date. Moreover, every month there were two or at best three large value transactions. He turned towards Bhaskar.

'Bhaskar, every single spend is succeeded by a payment within the next four days. Not a single instance of a delay beyond four days. Throughout the year there have been eight transactions. Apart from the one in July, all others are small in value.'

'Hmm...not the mark of a man who needs money to run his Naxal movement! Clearly he is not paying the money himself? Bhaskar said.

"Then what could it be?'

'I don't know. You are supposed to be the banking expert.' Bhaskar winked at him. 'Anyway, I am leaving for the day. Will talk to you tomorrow.'

'Goodnight, Bhaskar.'

Suddenly Bhaskar stopped and looked back at Karan as if he had forgotten to mention something. 'Friend, Andy liked your piece for tomorrow. I have written another update on the basis of the CBI press release. We are carrying your article and mine on the front page, with a small tagline which says – You read it first on
The Times of India
. You have arrived, my friend. Well done!'

"Thanks, Bhaskar. I look forward to your guidance.'

'Ok, thanks. By the way if I take a credit card, which one do you recommend?' Bhaskar asked.

'GB2 has a good proposition. You must look at it.'

'Ok...and you said I won't be caught if I spend less than two lakh per annum, or if I pay less than
50,000 in cash whenever I make a payment. At least I won't have to quote my PAN number anywhere, for any transaction. Right?'

'Yes, Bhaskar.'

'Ok, thanks. Take care. Goodnight.'

And Bhaskar left for the day leaving Karan holding all his papers, wondering what to do with them. The discussion with Bhaskar rang in his mind. He thought through it again and again. There was some meaning in what Bhaskar had said. Karan was sure that he knew a lot more than what he projected. It was very unlikely that he did not know about credit cards, leave alone the basics that Karan mentioned to him.

Two things kept harassing him during the entire discussion with Bhaskar and even after that. The first one was on Francis paying the spent amount almost as soon as the expense was incurred on the card, especially in view of the fact that the Naxals were always short on cash. And secondly, why were all transactions in the 38-45 K range? There was something in Bhaskar's smile, which told him that he knew it all. What was it? The sparkle in Bhaskar's eyes, as Karan was explaining the transactions in the card statement to him, was not normal.

What could it be? He was so close to nailing it, yet so far from it. Why was that moment of brilliance eluding him?

His concentration was shattered by the beep on his mobile. Someone had sent him a message. He glanced at his phone kept on the table next to him. The screen of his iPhone displayed 'text message – Bhaskar'. Next to it were two buttons. One displayed 'close' and the other displayed 'view'. He touched the 'view' button. Bhaskar's message opened on his screen.

Still thinking? If you really want to be an investigative journalist, you need to think fast. If you cant get to the bottom of this by tomorrow, let me know. I will tell you where you went wrong. Cheers, goodnight.

What the hell was this? He was right. Bhaskar knew what the issue was. That guy was too smart. Here Karan was struggling to decipher the head or tail of these documents and Bhaskar had within minutes figured out what the problem was. He was slightly embarrassed that Bhaskar had upstaged him in solving the mystery of the transactions. But he was now more determined to succeed. He had to get to the bottom – he was not going home till he cracked the puzzle.

After another twenty minutes with those papers, Karan gave up. He tried calling Bhaskar but he didn't pick up his phone. Giving himself one last chance, Karan went to the coffee machine. He picked up a cup of coffee and headed back to his desk. His body wanted him to give up but his pride didn't let him.

He picked up the transaction list again. He looked at the spent amount again and then at the payments made. There was a 100 per cent correlation. Why would that be? Why would anyone spend on a card and make a payment within the next three days ? If he had cash to pay, then why even incur the expense on the card? He might as well have paid in cash and bought the goods. Merchants normally give discounts on cash purchase over and above what they offer when someone buys things on a card.

One transaction in particular perplexed him. On 18 August, there was a purchase transaction in Raipur for
48,000. The payment corresponding to this purchase was made on 21 August. And there was another purchase made in Jamshedpur for
45,600 on 21 August. What was surprising was that, as per the transaction list, the cash payment into the account was made in the Kolkata branch. The money had been deposited in Kolkata whereas the customer was in Raipur and Jamshedpur on those two days. 'Wait! Something is not right here,' he said to himself and looked back at the transactions.