Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday provisionally attached immovable assets worth Rs 71 crore belonging to former Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) commissioner Anil Pawar, builder Sitaram Gupta, and several others. The action was taken under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, as part of an ongoing investigation into the alleged illegal construction of 41 buildings over 60 acres of government and private land in Vasai-Virar. The land was reserved for a sewage treatment plant and dumping ground under the approved development plan.
The attached assets include land parcels, residential flats, farm houses, commercial properties, and warehouses in Nashik, Thane, and Malegaon. Officials said some of these properties are linked to Pawar’s wife, Bharti Pawar, and companies where she served as director, including M/s Janardan Agri, M/s BSR Realty, M/s J.A. Pawar Builders, and M/s Shrutika Enterprises.
ED investigation revealed that Pawar allegedly created multiple entities in the names of family members and benamidars to launder bribe money. The illicit proceeds were reportedly used to purchase gold, diamond and pearl jewellery, expensive sarees, warehouses, farmhouses, and residential projects in the names of his wife, daughters, and other relatives.
Of the attached properties, assets worth Rs44 crore have been seized under provisional attachment orders (PAO). Officials said these properties linked to Pawar were allegedly acquired using proceeds from illegal construction activities in Vasai-Virar.
The ED probe uncovered an organised cartel within VVCMC involving senior officers, junior engineers, architects, chartered accountants, and intermediaries colluding across departments. Pawar, as commissioner, allegedly orchestrated the network to extract bribes from illegal construction projects while shielding unauthorized buildings.The cartel reportedly imposed a fixed commission of Rs 150 per sq. ft. on illegal construction projects in Vasai-Virar, of which Rs 50 per sq. ft. of built up area was directly received by Pawar as his share.
Officials said Pawar also collected bribes at the same rate to give protection to these 41 illegal unauthorised buildings. In the Town Planning Department, Pawar allegedly fixed bribe rates of Rs 20–25 per sq. ft. in Urban Zones and Rs 62 per sq. ft. in Green Zones for granting development approvals.
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According to ED, their investigation revealed that through this modus operandi, Pawar allegedly amassed proceeds of crime (POC) worth Rs169 crore.
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