Joint teams of ED officials from Delhi and Mumbai raided nine premises in Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Ahmednagar in connection with Unitech Group case registered in Delhi and Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) case registered in Mumbai.
Prajakt is minister of state for urban development and NCP MLA from Rahuri in Ahmednagar district. His father Prasad is a former MP. Tanpure’s family allegedly purchased a sick sugar mill through auction at rates lower than the then market rate.
Ram Ganesh Gadkari mill had allegedly defaulted on an MSCB loan, after which the bank auctioned it. The mill was sold to Prasad Sugar & Allied Agro Products, which was managed by Prasad through Prajakt.
Prasad was director in MSCB bank when it sold Ram Ganesh Gadkari mill to his son’s company. ED searched Prasad Sugar mill too.
Prajakt’s phone was switched off when TOI tried to contact him for his reaction. ED also searched premises of few consultants, reportedly known to Nagpur politician Ashish Deshmukh.
Sources said they searched premises of Jagdish Kadam as they suspect his firms received money diverted from Unitech. Kadam and some others whose premises were searched allegedly had financial transactions with Unitech.
Delhi police and CBI registered a cheating case against Unitech after home buyers were cheated. Company promoters allegedly diverted the money abroad and to other companies in India.
In the MSCB money laundering case, the ED is probing why the bank granted loans to mills without required mortgages. Directors of the BSCB, mainly senior politicians, auctioned those mills to their relatives for less than the market rate causing losses to the bank.
Last week, the deputy chief minister refuted all allegations regarding the Jarandeshwar sugar mill case. He said the Enforcement Directorate was investigating the matter and that facts would come out soon. “I have all the documents. All allegations being made by the opposition are baseless,” Pawar had said. He further said the auction of Jarandeshwar sugar mill was carried out as per all the rules and regulations. “A central agency is probing the case and the facts will come out. Other state agencies, such as the Anti-Corruption Bureau, CID and an inquiry committee chaired by a judge had already probed these allegations in the past,” Pawar said.
The above news was originally posted on timesofindia.indiatimes.com
