Maharashtra: ED attaches fresh assets in I-T refund fraud case
New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate has attached assets of various people, including the husband of an IPS officer, in connection with a money laundering investigation linked to an alleged Income Tax refund fraud case of Rs 263 crore in Maharashtra, the agency said.
The ED has provisionally attached a flat in Mumbai of Purushottam Chavan, land parcels in Lonavala and Khandala of Rajesh Brijlal Batreja, bank deposits of a company of Anirudh Gandhi, insurance policies of accused Rajesh Shetty and Bhushan Anant Patil, and some fixed deposits worth Rs 14.02 crore, the probe agency said in a statement issued on Friday.
Chavan is the husband of the Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.
To freeze these properties, an order has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The money laundering case stems from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR against Tanaji Mandal Adhikari, a former senior tax assistant, and others for "fraudulently" generating TDS (tax deducted at source) refunds from the Income Tax Department to the tune of Rs 263.95 crore.
Batreja "helped" Adhikari and others in diverting Rs 55.50 crore "proceeds of crime" outside India with the help of Gandhi, the ED alleged.
"Subsequent to diversion of the proceeds of crime, Batreja with the help of other persons in Dubai, concealed these funds outside India and a part of this was invested in two Indian companies based in Mumbai and Gurugram under the guise of share investment by making cross border remittances, the statement said.
"Batreja voluntarily repatriated a small part of these funds, Rs 1.70 crore," it said.
Later, the ED claimed, instead of bringing back the remaining money, Batreja "in connivance with" Chavan "diverted" the money.
Adhikari, Patil, Shetty, Batreja and Chavan were arrested and they are currently lodged in jail under judicial custody.
A charge-sheet was filed in the case in September last year against Adhikari and 10 others, and with the latest attachment, the total freezing of assets on this case is about Rs 182 crore.
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'Godman' Kharat held in 8th sexual exploitation case; court denies police remand, sends him to jail
Nashik (PTI): Police took custody of self-proclaimed godman-cum-astrologer Ashok Kharat in an eighth case related to sexual exploitation of women and produced him before a Nashik district court which sent him to jail till May 12 after rejecting the plea for his police remand on Thursday.
On April 29, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Nashik police in north Maharashtra filed a request application in the court demanding Kharat's custody in the eighth case.
After the court granted them the necessary permission, the SIT took custody of Kharat, who was in jail in connection with the seventh case of sexual exploitation registered against him.
The 'godman', named in a dozen FIRs related to rape and financial fraud, was produced before Chief Judicial Magistrate B N Ichpurani in the eighth case through video conferencing due to security reasons.
The eighth case related to Kharat allegedly sexually exploiting a woman who had approached him in search of solutions to her family problems, according to police.
During the hearing, the prosecution demanded police custody of the accused in the latest case.
However, the defence strongly opposed the demand and argued that the SIT was giving same reasons for police custody every time and there was no strong reason for accepting their plea.
The court accepted the argument put forth by the defence and remanded Kharat to judicial custody till May 12 in the eighth case.
The SIT will produce Kharat in the court on Friday again and seek his police custody in the ninth case. As the self-styled godman has been granted judicial custody in the eighth case, he will be sent to Nashik Road Central Jail and the SIT will take his custody from there.
Meanwhile, Kharat's judicial custody in the fourth case ended on Thursday. On April 18, the accused was remanded to judicial custody till April 30 in the fourth case of sexual exploitation of women.
In a related development, the SIT conducted a search at Kharat's office in the 'Canada Corner' area of Nashik city on Wednesday. A 'panchnama' (record of search and seizure proceedings) was conducted and the office was locked and sealed again.
Kharat, a well-heeled man with political connections, was arrested for the first time on March 18 after a woman alleged he had repeatedly raped her for three years.
He is accused of sexually exploiting several women by claiming to have divine powers and knowledge of black magic, and also committing large-scale financial fraud.
The SIT is conducting a probe into 12 cases of sexual exploitation and financial fraud registered against the astrologer in Nashik and Ahilyanagar districts.
