Posted on 05/23/2007 2:40:36 AM PDT by CarrotAndStick
NEW DELHI: Nigerian diplomat G A Ojedokun, who was caught on Monday trying to take out $2.27 million, has been restrained from leaving the country at the instance of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which holds that the defence advisor to the Nigerian high commission may be holding clues to the thriving foreign exchange racket in the country.
The ED has got in touch with the ministry of external affairs (MEA) to prevent Ojedokun, who had flashed his diplomatic immunity to get away, from leaving. The diplomat is interned at the guest house in Vasant Vihar where he had been putting up since his arrival in the country two months ago.
The ED’s interest in the disgraced diplomat has been aroused by his ability to convert crores of rupees into millions of dollars, cocking a snook at the much-talked about vigil on money laundering. Ojedokun withdrew in rupees from the Bank of Tokyo’s Parliament Street branch in New Delhi. In a step meant to stress the enormity of his offence, the MEA issued a statement saying that the Nigerian diplomat’s money trail needed further investigation and a final report was awaited.
Sources said Ojedokun told Air Intelligence Unit of the Airport Customs, Income Tax and ED sleuths that he had withdrawn the equivalent of $2.27 million (Rs 10 crore) from the Bank of Tokyo. He, however, failed to give full account of the purpose for which the money was withdrawn and from where he had exchanged the entire sum with dollars.
The ease with which such a large amount of foreign exchange is available in the national Capital has left authorities in a quandary as less than a year ago, the government had tightened the noose around money exchangers making some key amendments in the anti-money laundering guidelines. The amendment, announced by the RBI on June 26, 2006, had restricted easy convertibility of foreign exchange even through legal money changers.
Since it is difficult for a foreign national to acquire foreign currency to this extent by any legal channel, investigators are looking at the possibility of organised syndicates behind the mammoth level of foreign currencies in circulation.
“It is a perfect case under Section 3 and 4 of FEMA that debars any person from making any payment to or for the credit of any person resident outside India in any manner,” an official pointed out. In case an accused is held guilty under these sections, he is liable for a penalty three times the amount of the seizure.
The development had its impact on the oath-taking of the new high commissioner who was supposed to present his credentials to the President on Tuesday. It has been postponed for a few days, though officials said there was no connection between the two.
Ojedokun told investigators that there were two signatories to the huge withdrawal. Meanwhile, intelligence agencies have requested Bank of Tokyo to furnish transaction details of the various accounts held by the Nigerian high commission with the bank, sources said.
I think this guy's been emailing me.
It’s just like him to get the wrong address. He’s susposed to be visiting me.
Name sounds familiar, I think my contact was “Okydoky”.
Huh? what does that mean?
This article is from an Indian newspaper and the language borrows British usage.
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-coc4.htm
[Q] From Mike Pringle: “Any idea on the origins of the phrase cock a snook. I can see the cock side of it, but why snook which is, I believe, a fish?”
[A] Ah. Wrong sort of snook. Possibly the wrong sort of cock, too, I could guess, though to investigate more deeply might sully the chaste reputation of this newsletter.
The truth is, we have no idea at all where this phrase comes from. The gesture of derision it encapsulates is that of putting one’s thumb to one’s nose and extending the fingers. Waggling them is optional but greatly improves the effectiveness of the insult. The gesture is widespread but names for it vary: cocking a snook is mainly the British name for what Americans, I think, sometimes describe as a five-fingered salute. Heaven knows what the notably blunt Australians call it.
Cock here is a verb with the sense of sticking something out stiffly in an attitude of defiance, as the cockerel’s neck, crest or tail is erect when he crows. So we have expressions like to cock the nose, to turn one’s nose up in contempt or indifference. A cocked hat is one whose brim has been turned up; a cocked gun is one whose hammer has been raised, ready for firing. And so on.
So far so good. But snook is not so easily explainable, since the word turns up only in this phrase. There’s an example known from 1791, but the phrase doesn’t become widely recorded until the last years of the nineteenth century. There is some suggestion that it is a variant form of snout, which would make sense.
Because snook isn’t known now, folk etymology often turns the phrase in cock a snoot, since snoot is known as a slang name for the nose. (It’s another variant of snout.)
I just thought it was funny
I’d second that, too!
Cocking a snook: I do that all the time, it’s good to finally know what to call it!!!
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