Mumbai, November 11, 2026: The special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court has discharged Sagar Mulchandani, nephew of Amar Mulchandani, the former chairman of Seva Vikas Co-operative Bank Ltd, in a money laundering case, observing that no specific role had been attributed to him.
Countering the prosecution's case that Sagar was one of the beneficiaries of the fraud because he led a lavish lifestyle, the court said, "leading a lavish life style by using high-end cars and incurring personal expenses, itself would not attract and is insufficient for the offence under the PML Act."
Sagar had moved a discharge plea claiming that he was booked in the case only because of his relationship with Amar, who is accused of having misappropriated a huge amount through wrongful disbursement of loans.
ED's Allegations Against Former Bank Chairman
According to the ED, Amar was the chairman of Seva Vikas Co-operative Bank (in short, ‘SVB’) from 1997 to 2003 and from 2009 to 2020. It is claimed that he made his family members and associated persons directors of the bank and sanctioned loans without any resistance from other board members and by flouting banking norms.
He is accused of having obtained commissions in cash for granting these loans. As a result, 124 loan accounts were declared NPAs by the bank, wherein misappropriation of Rs 429.57 crore was observed, accounting for 92% of the bank's loans.
The allegation against Sagar was that Amar had acquired various properties in Sagar's name. Hence, the prosecution claimed that Sagar allowed his name to be used by Amar and thus helped and assisted him in laundering the proceeds of crime.
Court Finds No Evidence Against Sagar
The court, however, noted that, "There is nothing on record to show/demonstrate that as to how the Accused No.4 (Amar) has acquired properties in the name of Applicant/Accused No.8 (Sagar). There is no material on record to show how Accused No.4 has made investment in the name of Applicant/Accused No.8. There is nothing on record to connect the Applicant/Accused No.8 with the offence of money laundering."
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"Interestingly the Enforcement Directorate has not chosen to array her as an accused. This assumes relevance since the allegations concerning benami investment have been levelled against both the Applicant/Accused No.8 and Ekta Mulchnadani. The decision of Enforcement Directorate not to array Ekta Mulchnadani as an accused, therefore assumes significance. Nevertheless, even these allegations do not demonstrate the commission of any offence of money laundering," the court said in its order discharging Sagar.
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