DA case against IRS officer: Suspicious proceeds with kin, friend under ED scanner
The Enforcement Directorate is investigating Indian Revenue Service officer Sachin Sawant for alleged money laundering and disproportionate assets. The investigation has revealed that Sawant generated around ₹4.11 crore ($557,000) from illegal sources of income and amassed assets worth ₹2.45 crore that are disproportionate to his legal income. Sawant has denied the allegations. The chargesheet also names Sawant's father, brother, and two firms.
MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s money laundering investigation against Sachin Sawant, officer, Indian Revenue Service (IRS), accused of amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income, probed certain suspicious transactions allegedly involving his friend and his brother, who are co-accused in the case.
Sawant’s driver Sameer Nalawade alleged in his witness statement given to the ED that he had collected cash worth ₹60 lakh in all in the past, wherein he would show a note as a token for collection, from Kalbadevi, Mumbai, on the directions of Sawant’s friend, Shashi Chauhan.
Nalawade alleged that he later learnt that the funds belonged to Sawant. When asked by ED, Sawant however denied the allegations, saying Nalawade allegedly collected the funds as directed by Chauhan, with respect to a firm, and that he was not aware of such transactions’ purpose.
Sawant also denied allegations that he had once sent a Whatsapp chat, with an image of a ₹20 note, to his brother, Sandeep, for collecting cash. Sawant said that he had indeed sent the said image, but its purpose was never to collect any cash and that he did not remember the purpose of sending that image.
The ED probe revealed that the total proceeds of crime in the case are worth around ₹4.11 crore. The agency’s probe revealed that from the alleged “illegal sources of income”, Sawant generated a total amount of ₹4.11 crore and has been identified by it till date, said ED’s chargesheet submitted in the case in sessions court recently.
The ED chargesheet has also named Sawant’s father Balasaheb , brother Sandeep and two firms, Seven Hills Constrowell Pvt Ltd and ThreeG ID Technology Pvt Ltd.
The chargesheet said that most of the funds were allegedly deposited in cash in the bank accounts of his father, his mother, his brother and other family members.
A part of this amount was utilised in repaying the loan taken by them while another part was used in purchasing movable/immovable properties in the name of his family members and other related entities/individuals.
Sawant allegedly amassed huge assets in his name and in the name of his family members (wife, father and mother) and also incurred huge expenditure, which are disproportionate to the tune of ₹2. 45 crore to their legal sources of income, the chargesheet added.
The sum of ₹2.45 crore was allegedly disproportionate to the tune of 204% of Sawant and his family’s known and legal source/s of income during the check period of January 12, 2011, to August 31, 2020.
It was alleged that the assets under the scanner were worth a mere ₹1.42 lakh at the beginning of the check period but escalated to ₹2.07 crore at the end of it, sources said.
Further, the income during the check period was allegedly ₹1.2 crore, while the expenditure was to the tune of ₹1.6 crore and the likely savings were around ₹39.87 lakh.
The accused was working as an additional commissioner, CGST and Central Excise in Lucknow and was arrested by the ED in June after the agency carried out searches at his premises, including in Mumbai.
The agency probed alleged transactions related to cash deposits, benami assets, purchase of land and flow/trail of proceeds of crime in the case and recorded the statements of Sawant’s relatives and other witnesses.
It was also alleged that most of the amount arranged for the purchase of Sanpada flat in the name of a firm, Seven Hills Constrowell (India) Pvt Ltd, in which Balasaheb was a director, were routed through different loan, personal and current accounts of his parents and his brother.
The probe found that about ₹1.02 crore out of ₹1.3 crore (the cost of the flat) at least was allegedly arranged in cash.
The probe revealed that Sawant had allegedly amassed disproportionate assets through unexplained sources of income and layered the same into the bank accounts of companies that were owned/controlled by Chauhan, according to the chargesheet.
The said amount was allegedly integrated into the bank accounts of his family members including his wife and sister-in-law in the guise of salaries given to them on monthly basis and by using the said modus operandi, Sawant had projected his tainted money as untainted money, the chargesheet said.
Sawant’s driver Sameer Nalawade in his witness statement to the ED stated that a south-Indian actress was Sawant ‘s girlfriend. When she shifted to Kochi, Sawant had allegedly gone to meet her 15 to 20 times and gifted her a gold anklet of around ₹1.75 lakh.
Sawant in his statement to the ED, however, denied all the allegations against him. Sawant also denied his alleged links with the actress.
Sawant said that the lady is his “close friend but he had never gifted her anything” and that he had visited Kochi multiple times to visit the Guruvayur and Mannarsala Temples, according to the chargesheet.
When contacted by HT, Sawant ‘s counsel Vikram Sutaria said, “My client is innocent. He has been framed in a false case. There is no material to substantiate any disproportionate assets case against him.
“The matter is sub-judice before the Competent Court and hence, I refrain from commenting on the merits of the case.”
“He has no relationships as alleged either with South Indian Actress or other female and just to create prejudice, the prosecution has made up stories to defame my client’s image in public,” said Sutaria.
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