Senior IPS officer's husband arrested in Rs 24-crore cheating case in Mumbai
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police has arrested Purushottam Chavan, husband of Rashmi Karandikar, a senior IPS officer posted in Mumbai, for allegedly cheating multiple individuals of Rs 24 crore. He is accused of cheating victims with promises of discounted flats in prime areas such as South Mumbai and Lower Parel under government schemes.Chavan was already in judicial custody for his involvement in a Rs 263 crore Income Tax return fraud case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). On Tuesday, the EOW took his custody based on disclosures made by the ED.advertisementED FINDS FORGED DOCUMENTSLast year, the ED had arrested Chavan for accepting Rs 12 crore from accused individuals in the IT refund scam, promising to help them avoid arrest. During searches at his residence, the ED found multiple forged documents, including fake Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) papers and land deals valued at over Rs 100 crore. These documents were allegedly used to dupe potential property buyers.The ED passed on these findings to Mumbai Police, leading to the registration of an FIR by the EOW and the current arrest.DETAILS OF ED CASEIn July 2024, the ED attached assets worth Rs 14.02 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the Rs 263 crore Income Tax refund scam. The attached properties included a flat in Mumbai belonging to Chavan, land in Lonavala and Khandala belonging to Rajesh Batreja, bank balances, insurance policies and fixed deposits of others accused.advertisementThe ED investigation was based on a CBI FIR against Tanaji Mandal Adhikari and others for generating fraudulent TDS refunds from the Income Tax Department.During a May 2024 search at the IPS officer's residence, ED officials recovered documents related to 14 flats in Mumbai and Thane, including two large flats in Worli. TDR documents for Mumbai and Pune were also seized. The total value of these assets is estimated at Rs 150 crore, with many believed to be benami properties. Most of the TDR documents were found to be fake.MODUS OPERANDIAccording to the ED, Chavan had assured Rajesh Batreja, one of the main accused in the IT refund scam, of legal relief in return for Rs 12 crore. Chavan is accused of being in possession of part of the proceeds of the crime.Further investigations revealed that Batreja, with the help of Anirudh Gandhi, helped Adhikari and others divert Rs 55.5 crore outside India. Some of this amount was later invested in Indian companies in Mumbai and Gurugram under the guise of share purchases through cross-border remittances.Initially, Batreja repatriated Rs 1.7 crore but subsequently, in collusion with Chavan, concealed the remaining amount in India and abroad through associates in Dubai.advertisementSo far, five accused - Adhikari, Chavan, Bhushan Anant Patil, Rajesh Shantaram Shetty and Rajesh Batreja, have been arrested and are in judicial custody. A prosecution complaint was filed against Adhikari and 10 others on September 11, 2023, and has been taken up by the Special PMLA Court. The total value of attached or seized properties in the case now stands at approximately Rs 182 crore.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Mithi River desilting fraud: ED summons a dozen people, including Dino Morea
MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned at least a dozen people, including actor Dino Morea, officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), civic contractors and intermediaries, for questioning related to its money laundering investigation into the execution of contracts for desilting the Mithi River. All the summoned people have been asked to appear for questioning at the agency's Mumbai office next week, said an official aware of developments. The people summoned included those named and questioned previously by the Mumbai police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW), which had registered an FIR in connection with the alleged fraud last month. According to the EOW, irregularities in executing desilting work contracts for the Mithi River have resulted in a loss of ₹65.54 crore for the BMC and, in turn, the public exchequer. The development comes a day after ED carried out searches at 18 locations across Mumbai, Kochi and Thrissur in connection with the investigation. The search operation covered the residential/office premises of Morea and his brother Santino Morea, BMC engineer Prashant Ramgude, civic contractor Bhupendra Purohit, intermediaries Jay Joshi and Ketan Kadam, and Matprop Technical Services Pvt Ltd, a Kochi-based company that rented machinery and equipment for the desilting work. According to an ED press release issued on Saturday, the evidence collected during the investigation and search operation prima facie indicates that Ramgude, Purohit, Joshi, Kadam, officials of Matprop, and others 'colluded to form a cartel with the intent to manipulate BMC tenders' related to the desilting of Mithi River. 'This action effectively conferred a monopoly in the award of desilting contracts of Mithi River and caused payments at inflated rates for desilting works, resulting in undue gains to the contractors and associated parties, thereby causing financial loss to the public exchequer. These undue financial gains have been concealed by layering them through certain shell companies/firms, which were formed by collusion amongst Ketan Kadam, Bhupendra Purohit, Prashant Ramgude and other private individuals,' the release said. During Friday's search operation, the ED seized ₹7 Lakh in cash, and froze 22 bank accounts/fixed deposits and one demat account. The total amount seized or frozen is more than ₹1.25 crore so far, the ED said. The agency has also seized digital devices and incriminating documents during the searches. The ED's investigation is based on the EOW's FIR, in which 13 people and entities were booked, including Joshi, Kadam, and three BMC officials. Joshi, the director of industrial product manufacturer Virgo Specialties Pvt Ltd, and Kadam, the controller of desilting services company Woder India LLP, were later arrested. A sessions court granted Joshi bail on June 5. According to the ED, Dino and Santino Morea are 'close associates' of Kadam. The EOW had interrogated the two brothers last week after finding financial transactions between them and Kadam's family. The police suspect that the transactions, which took place during the period of the alleged fraud—from 2019 to 2022—could be linked to the desilting contracts. Santino Morea and Kadam's wife, Punita, are also directors of a Mumbai-based company, UBO Ridez Private Limited, which operates Victoria-style electric carriages, according to the EOW. As per the EOW's investigation, the three BMC officials booked in the case allegedly tailored the tender for the desilting contracts to benefit Matprop, resulting in the company's monopoly over the contracts. When the BMC's contractors approached Matprop for desilting equipment, they were directed to approach Joshi and Kadam, who, in connivance with the company, allegedly rented the machines at inflated rates. Matprop's director, Dipak Mohan, who was also booked in the case, has denied that he or his company were involved in the fraud. The accused also allegedly fudged records to increase the amount of silt to be removed from the Mithi River to benefit the contractors and the rates that they were supposed to be paid, according to the EOW.
India Today
2 hours ago
- India Today
Family of UP woman cop, found dead in May, alleges she was sexually assaulted
A 27-year-old woman constable of the Uttar Pradesh Police was found dead in her rented accommodation in Lucknow on May 27. Her body was discovered hanging, in what is now emerging as a case of abetment to suicide following serious allegations of blackmail, sexual exploitation and financial constable, originally from Amroha district, had joined the UP Police in 2019. She was initially posted to Ghazipur police station and had been working at Madiyaon police station for the past two victim's family has accused a man named Satwant, also from Amroha, of repeatedly blackmailing her, sexually exploiting her, and extorting nearly Rs 12.5 lakh from her. The constable was found dead in her house in the Sarvodaya Nagar area. Following the family's complaint, a case of abetment to suicide has been registered against the accused at the Ghazipur police Commissioner of Police (Crime) Babloo Kumar confirmed that Satwant is currently absconding and efforts are on to trace him."Preliminary investigation has revealed that the constable was under severe financial and emotional stress. We are conducting a thorough investigation, and further action will be taken based on the evidence," he said.
India Gazette
2 hours ago
- India Gazette
Rajasthan: Bank employee withdraws Rs 4.58 crore from customers' in Kota, arrested
ANI 08 Jun 2025, 02:27 GMT+10 Kota (Rajasthan) [India], June 8 (ANI): A woman employee of ICICI Bank in Kota allegedly withdrew Rs 4.58 crore from customers' accounts and invested it in the share market, police said on late Saturday, adding that she has been arrested. Sub-inspector (SI) Udyog Nagar Police Station Mohammad Ibrahim told reporters, 'Bank officer Sakshi Gupta took Rs 4.58 crore from 43 customers' accounts. A case has been registered, and she has been arrested'. 'Sakshi Gupta had invested this money in the share market through a demat account,' the officer added. More details are awaited. (ANI)
