Bastawade set up string of firms to launder Koda money

Anil Adinath Bastawade once owed about R100 crore to Binod Sinha, who was a key aide of former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, say investigators, Sanjib Kr Baruah and Rajesh Ahuja report.

Anil Adinath Bastawade once owed about R100 crore to Binod Sinha, who was a key aide of former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, say investigators.

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Documents accessed by HT reveal that Bastawade, 48, allegedly formed a real estate company by the name Gulf Water in Dubai to channel the tainted money of Koda and his associates like Sinha. But after a fallout with Koda’s associates, Bastawade went to Indonesia.

“He (Bastawade) handled a part of Koda’s ill-gotten money and was a channel used by Koda’s associates to park their money in Dubai’s real estate market and coalmine business in Indonesia. Initially the Enforcement Directorate was just interested in recording his statement but when he did not turn up for the questioning, the investigators got suspicious,” said a finance ministry official.

Bastawade was taken to Ranchi on Wednesday and produced before the special money laundering court where he was remanded to 14 days of judicial custody.

Besides owning a real estate firm in Dubai, Bastawade also held stakes in Laksha Infrastructure and Camtech Manufacturing. He was also keen to set shop in Dubai’s Free Zone.

It is alleged that during Koda’s tenure as mines minister and then as CM, various business houses paid huge bribe money to Koda and his associates for mining rights in Jharkhand which was channeled to the Indian and Dubai real estate market through sham companies.