Mumbai: The special PMLA court has refused to grant bail to businessman Rajesh Batreja arrested in connection with Rs 263 crore Income Tax TDS refund fraud case observing that he himself had admitted in his statement of having handled proceeds of crime worth Rs 55.50 crore.
Batreja, who has been in custody for 10 months, claimed that he has been falsely implicated in the crime and that he had cooperated during the investigation. It was also contended that the trial would take a long time and the only allegation against him is that he handled the proceeds of crime (POC) and converted it into cash.
As per the prosecution case, former Income-Tax (I-T) officer Tanaji Mandal Adhikari allegedly generated fake TDS refunds to the tune of Rs 263 crore when he was posted in I-T’s Mumbai office. The prosecution had claimed that Batreja was involved in diverting the proceeds of crime of Rs 55.50 crore from the bank account of businessman Bhushan Patil into three shell companies in order to convert the same into cash after the arrest of Adhikari.
The court said, “On perusal of the statement of the applicant recorded by an officer of ED, it appears that though the applicant has admitted about handling POC of Rs 55.50 crore, but has not disclosed as to where the same is parked in Dubai, this is non-corporation on the part of the applicant and is itself sufficient for his arrest.” The court also rejected medical grounds raised by the defense.
