PMLA probe: ED raids official residence of Maharashtra Minister Anil Parab; watch video

PMLA probe: ED raids official residence of Maharashtra Minister Anil Parab; watch video

Locations in Dapoli, Mumbai and Pune are being searched after the federal agency filed a fresh case under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Somendra SharmaUpdated: Friday, May 27, 2022, 12:21 AM IST
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Anil Parab | ANI Photo

A team of Enforcement Directorate officers carried out searches at the official residence of State Transport Minister and Shiv Sena leader Anil Parab and others on Thursday, in connection with a fresh case of money laundering registered by the agency. Several other places in Mumbai, Pune and Dapoli were also searched.

According to ED sources in Mumbai, the minister was reportedly at home when the ED came calling.

The searches have drawn attention to the Rajya Sabha elections slated for June 10; in fact, the ED action coincides with the filing of nominations by Sanjay Raut and Sanjay Pawar. The action has also come ahead of the BMC elections, in which estranged partners, the Shiv Sena and the BJP, will be pitted against each other. More importantly, Parab is not only a close confidant of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray but has been a key leader who takes care of the Sena’s BMC election war room and also supervises organisational work in the western suburbs.In March this year, the income tax department, during a search, had allegedly found evidence revealing that more than Rs 6 crore had been spent on the construction of a resort belonging to a prominent politician (Anil Parab) at Dapoli. Agency officials claimed that the said money had not been accounted for in the books of account. The search had also resulted in the seizure of Rs 66 lakh in cash.According to I-T officers, during the search, it was found that Parab had purchased a parcel of land in Dapoli in 2017 for a consideration of Rs 1 crore but it was registered in 2019. This land was subsequently sold in 2020 to a Mumbai-based cable operator, Sadanand Kadam, for a consideration of Rs 1.10 crore.“In between, a resort was built on the same land from 2017 to 2020. By the time the parcel of land was registered in the name of Parab, construction on a substantial portion of the resort had been completed. By the time the property was sold by Parab to Kadam in 2020, the resort was almost complete. It transpired that the relevant facts about the construction of the resort were not intimated to the registration authorities and accordingly, stamp duty was paid only for the registration of the land on both occasions i.e. in 2019 and in 2020. Evidence found during the search had revealed that the construction of the resort had begun in 2017 and more than Rs 6 crore in cash had been spent on the construction of the resort. The cost of construction of the same has not been accounted for either by Kadam or Parab in their books of account,” the I-T department had claimed.Last year, the ED had recorded the statements of Anil Parab in connection with a money-laundering case registered by the ED against the former Maharashtra home minister, Anil Deshmukh. The ED had been probing allegations of cash for transfers and postings in the RTO department made by dismissed police officer Sachin Vaze.

According to the I-T officials, during the search, it was found that a parcel of land at Dapoli was purchased by Parab in 2017 for a consideration of Rs 1 crore but it was registered in 2019. This land was subsequently sold to a Mumbai-based cable operator Sadanand Kadam in 2020 for a consideration of Rs 1.10 crore.

"In between, a resort was built on the same land from 2017 to 2020. By the time the parcel of land was registered in the name of Parab, substantial construction of the resort was completed. Later, the resort was almost complete when the property was sold by Parab to Kadam in 2020. It transpired that the relevant facts about the construction of the resort were not intimated to the Registration authorities and accordingly, the stamp duty was paid only for the registration of the land on both the occasions i.e. in 2019 and in 2020. Evidence found during the search had revealed that the construction of the resort started in 2017 and more than Rs. 6 crore was spent in cash on construction of the resort. Cost of construction of the same has not been accounted for either by Kadam or Parab in their books of account," the I-T department had claimed.

Last year, the ED) had recorded statements of Anil Parab in connection with a money laundering case registered by the ED against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh. The ED had been probing the allegations of cash for transfer and postings in the RTO department on the allegations made by dismissed police officer Sachin Vaze.

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