The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached immovable assets worth Rs 3.75 crore allegedly belonging to Saeed khan, who had illegally siphoned off the funds from Mahila Utkarsha Pratisthan (MUP) (section 8 company). Khan is an associate of Member of Parliament from Yavatmal-Washim constituency Bhavana Gawali.
On the basis of an FIR registered by the Risod Police Station in Washim in May 2020, the ED had registered an ECIR. The FIR was registered by Gawali, chairperson of MUP. The allegation in the said FIR had stated that one Ashok Gandule and other persons have connived and conspired to misappropriate funds belonging to MUP amounting to Rs 18.18 crores.
In September, the ED had arrested Saeed Khan in the said case. The agency in its remand application, while seeking Khan's custody from the court, had alleged, "During the course of investigation, it has been revealed that the Trust MUP filed for conversion into a company by the alleged fraudulent forgery of signatures of the management and documents from public institutions. A total assets of Rs 69 crore in book value were transferred to the newly formed company, which was incorporated in January 2020. The directors of this company are Saeed Khan and Gawali's mother Shalinitai. It is stated that Gawali, through her aide Saeed Khan and his accomplices have criminally conspired to convert the Trust MUP into a company through forgery and fraud."
The ED had carried out searches at multiple locations in August in Washim district in connection with the case. At least seven premises linked to Gawali were searched under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). One of the searched places was the trust's office in Washim's Risod area.
The agency had also issued summons to Gawali to make enquiries with her in connection with the case, but she had not appeared before the agency so far.
