Mumbai The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned advocate Jaishri Patil on Wednesday to record her statement in connection with the money laundering case registered against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh.
Patil is one of the petitioners who had approached the Bombay high court seeking a CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) probe against Deshmukh after former Mumbai Police chief Param Bir Singh alleged that the Nationalist Congress Party leader ran an ‘extortion racket’ in Mumbai.
“As the case against Deshmukh is mainly based on my petition, ED has summoned me to record my statement, which would hold key importance in the case. I would be visiting ED’s office on Wednesday morning,” Patil said.
ED on Tuesday also recorded statement of another petitioner in the case. ED may soon call Param Bir Singh to record his statement, ED sources indicated.
The officials would also summon Deshmukh and his personal staff soon.
On April 24, CBI officers had carried out raids at Deshmukh’s residences in Nagpur and Mumbai as well as at his personal assistant Sanjeev Palande’s premises and seized digital devices.
The PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) case against Deshmukh is based on CBI’s first information report (FIR) registered against him last month. On April 21, CBI said it had found “prima facie evidence” against Deshmukh for allegedly misusing his position, and booked him for corruption and criminal conspiracy. Unlike CBI, the federal anti-money laundering agency, can record statements of any person in a case under PMLA’s Section 50 and it is admissible as evidence in court.
{{/usCountry}}The PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) case against Deshmukh is based on CBI’s first information report (FIR) registered against him last month. On April 21, CBI said it had found “prima facie evidence” against Deshmukh for allegedly misusing his position, and booked him for corruption and criminal conspiracy. Unlike CBI, the federal anti-money laundering agency, can record statements of any person in a case under PMLA’s Section 50 and it is admissible as evidence in court.
{{/usCountry}}NCP had previously dismissed ED’s case as politically motivated. The party claims that the case registered by ED or allegations levelled by Singh is an attempt to defame the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government by using power.
CBI’s case came a month after Singh accused Deshmukh of using the Mumbai Police for extortion from bars, hotels, and restaurants. CBI is probing Singh’s allegations as well as Deshmukh’s handing over of important cases to former assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze and influencing transfers and postings.
In a letter to Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray in March, Singh had alleged that Deshmukh asked Vaze to collect ₹100 crore every month from bars, restaurants, hotels and other establishments in Mumbai. The letter was written after Singh was transferred for allegedly mismanaging the Antilia case, in which an explosives-laden SUV was found outside industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s house in February.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Vaze in connection with the case as well as the murder of Thane trader Mansukh Hiran – who was was linked to the vehicle.