Medical admission case: ED arrests Shivaji Education Society director’s son
According to ED, the Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Education Society had allegedly collected around ₹30 lakh to ₹40 lakh each from multiple students during 2011-2016 but did not give them admissions
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Deepak Deshmukh, the son of the Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Education Society director Appasaheb Deshmukh, for his alleged involvement in admission-linked irregularities at the medical college run by the education society between 2011 and 2016. The accused was allegedly a beneficiary of the proceeds of the crime.
The agency’s probe is based on a 2016 first information report (FIR) registered by the Satara police in Maharashtra. According to ED, the said education society had allegedly collected around ₹30 lakh to ₹40 lakh each from multiple students during 2011-2016 but did not give them admissions. Funds of around ₹69 crore were allegedly collected from the students in this manner and were deposited into the bank accounts of the society and its colleges, projecting them as income of a hospital, said the officials.
The amount collected from the students was allegedly diverted to the personal accounts of the president of the said education society Mahadev Deshmukh, director Appasaheb Deshmukh and their family members that were later used for purchasing vehicles and making investments etc., the officials said. From this pool of funds, an amount of around ₹49.50 lakh was allegedly transferred to the bank account of the arrested accused Deepak, ED officials said.
ED had issued three summonses to the accused Deepak earlier, but he had allegedly not co-operated in the investigation, the officials said. The agency arrested the accused on the basis of his alleged involvement in money-laundering activity linked to the case’s proceeds of crime, they added. “The amount of Rs. 49.50 lakh received by the accused is proceeds of scheduled crime and the probe will try to find the end -user of the said money,” said an official who did not want to be named.
Deshmukh was remanded to ED’s custody till September 12 by city special court on Thursday. ED had earlier in 2022 arrested two top functionaries of the society.
The arrested accused’s lawyer on the other hand told the court during the remand hearing that his client is involved in the business of stone-crushing and that only one transaction, of ₹20 lakh of the year 2014, out of the chart in ED’s remand application is relevant and for which he has already given an explanation. According to the accused, his business entity, Ajinkya Stone Crusher, had provided stone to the college and the amount of ₹20 lakhs received in 2014 allegedly was a payment for the said transaction as received by him. His lawyer also argued that the police case of 2016, which is the basis of the ED’s probe, only covers transactions from 2014-2016, and the agency cannot expand the scope of the investigation.
The court, while remanding the accused to ED’s custody, however held that the arrested accused appears allegedly to be a beneficiary of proceeds of crime, considering especially the unexplained transactions of ₹49.5 lakh in his account.