ED arrests IRS officer who had worked at its Mumbai zonal office

The accused, Sachin Sawant, working as an additional commissioner of Customs in Lucknow, was arrested on Tuesday after the ED carried out searches at his premises, including in Mumbai. He was produced in a Mumbai court on Wednesday and remanded to ED custody till July 5.

MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday arrested an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, who had earlier worked at the agency’s Mumbai zonal office as a deputy director, in connection with a money laundering probe.

ED arrests IRS officer who had worked at its Mumbai zonal office

The accused, Sachin Sawant, working as an additional commissioner of Customs in Lucknow, was arrested on Tuesday after the ED carried out searches at his premises, including in Mumbai.

He was produced in a Mumbai court on Wednesday and remanded to ED custody till July 5.

The agency’s money laundering case against Sawant is based on a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)’s case of June 2022 that was filed against him on charges of allegedly amassing disproportionate assets.

The CBI investigated allegations that Sawant had amassed huge assets in his name, and those of his family members (wife and his parents), and incurred huge expenditure, which were disproportionate to their legal sources of income by around ₹2.45 crore.

The sum of ₹2.45 crore was allegedly disproportionate to the tune of 204% of Sawant and his family ‘s known and legal sources of income during the check period of January 12, 2011, to August 31, 2020, according to the CBI.

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, CBI 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, CBI sources said.

Sawant is an IRS (Customs & Central Excise) officer of 2008 batch. He has done several stints with Mumbai Customs as well apart from having worked with the ED Mumbai zonal unit. After the completion of IRS training in September 2008, Sawant had joined the Central Excise Zone, Belapur in May 2010.

During the ED money laundering investigation, it was revealed that cash deposits of around ₹ 1.25 crore were made from unexplained sources in the personal bank accounts of Sawant’s family members and in the bank account of a dummy company, wherein his father and brother-in-law were directors, ED sources said.

“It has been found that immovable property was purchased in the name of said dummy company. The source for purchase of the said property was shown as personal loans and other bank loans whose repayments were also made in cash,” the ED source said.

“Although, the flat is in the name of dummy company, but Sachin Sawant was occupying the said flat as its real owner,” the source added.

“During the check period under the scanner of the CBI and ED ‘s money-laundering probes, the officer had worked in different capacities at Mumbai-II Zone of Central Excise, Nhava Sheva (Exports), Customs, Nhava Sheva-I Commissionerate of Customs, Central Excise Mumbai Zone-I and the ED, Mumbai,” the ED source said.

The CBI probe had revealed that a flat at Sanpada, Navi Mumbai, under the scanner had been allegedly purchased via funds routed through different loan, personal and current accounts of Sawant’s parents and his brother.

It was learnt that about ₹1.02 crore out of the ₹1.3 crore (the flat’s cost) was allegedly arranged in cash. The flat was in the name of a firm, Seven Hills Constrowell Ltd, in which Sawant’s father was one of the directors. The firm’s registered office was located in a chawl premise in Dadar east.

“No such office ever existed at the said address,” according to the CBI First Information Report.