A special court designated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) granted bail on Monday to actor and businessman Sachin Joshi, arrested last February in a money laundering case concerning Yes Bank and Omkar Group of companies.
The prosecution had alleged that the Omkar group had not used the bank’s loan of Rs. 410 crores for the purpose of redevelopment of a Wadala project for which it was sanctioned.
It claimed a part of the amount was laundered with the help of Joshi’s firms. Joshi, on the other hand, claimed that the group had used his brand value and services to evict slum dwellers in different projects and money had been received as a consideration for this.
The 37-year-old had claimed bail through his advocates Aabad Ponda and Subhash Jadhav claiming that every single penny received by him has been accounted for not part of the tainted money.
It was also argued that assuming the amount was indeed proceeds of crime, he had no knowledge of this, thus he cannot be held criminally liable.
The court was also told that he was not a flight risk and has deep roots in society as he has personal and business interests here and there is no chance he would abscond.
Joshi had been on temporary bail on medical grounds and was on this temporary relief when he had filed this bail application on the merits of the case.
