A special court on Saturday granted bail to MLA from Gangakhed constituency Ratnakar Gutte in a money laundering case of ₹635 crores in which he is accused. Gutte was never arrested, but the court had summoned him as per procedure along with other co-accused after taking cognizance of the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED)chargesheet last month.
The MLA had appeared in response to the summons and filed a plea for bail, that the court permitted. Gutte was chairperson of Gangakhed Sugar and Energy Pvt Ltd. (GSEL) that was allegedly involved in the offence. The ED claims his employees had obtained loans from seven banks in the names of farmers by using their identification documents. The various banks had sanctioned over ₹772 crore. Of the amount, ₹635 crore was disbursed in fictitious accounts created in the names of farmers and the money was allegedly siphoned off.
