Former home minister Anil Deshmukh is the “mastermind and brain” behind the money laundering conspiracy and that he had misused his official position to amass wealth, claimed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) before the Bombay high court while seeking dismissal of the NCP leader’s bail plea.
The affidavit filed by ED’s assistant director Tassine Sultan also says that the former minister exercised undue influence to pass favourable transfers and postings of police officials.
Further saying that the bail plea was devoid of merits, ED has said if Deshmukh is released on bail then he may influence the probe as he was an influential person. The probe is still at a nascent stage and hence granting bail would hamper the investigation and obfuscate the trail of proceeds of crime that is yet to be identified.
The affidavit read: “The applicant (Deshmukh) is the mastermind of the entire conspiracy hatched with his son Hrishikesh Deshmukh, Sachin Waze (dismissed police officer), Sanjeev Palande and Kundan Shinde (Deshmukh's former aides).” It further adds: “The applicant is the main conspirator and the brain behind the whole conspiracy to collect money from bars and restaurant owners.”
Claiming that Deshmukh has not cooperated with the probe, the agency has said that the former minister has amassed huge wealth during his tenure and the source of the same is still unexplained. The affidavit read: “Deshmukh has not cooperated with the probe and was not able to explain the source of the wealth and was hiding the actual facts.”
“The applicant (Deshmukh) in consultation with one cabinet minister used to prepare a list of names of police officials for the purpose of transfer and postings, which used to be unofficially forwarded to the Additional Chief Secretary, Home and the Head of the Police Establishment Board,” adds the affidavit. It added that there is no record of these meetings and there no guidelines for preparation of such an unofficial list.
Further, the agency has claimed that the then Additional Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte in his statement to the agency said that Deshmukh has handed him an unofficial list containing names of police officers with regard to favourable transfer and postings.
Deshmukh, at the time, had called Vaze to his residence 'Dnyaneshwari' several times and repeatedly instructed him to assist in collection of funds to achieve the target of Rs 100 crore a month from restaurants and bars, says ED.
The ED reiterated that Vaze had collected Rs 4.70 crore from restaurants and bars and handed the same to Deshmukh's former aide Kundan Shinde. The money, according to ED, was sent through hawala and later deposited as donations to a Nagpur-based trust owned by the Deshmukh family.
"Scrutiny of the records of the trust 'Shri Sai Shikshan Sanstha' revealed that the applicant has been actively using the modus operandi to launder his unaccounted cash," the ED said.
"Investigations revealed that the applicant in connivance with his family members has laundered unaccounted cash money totally amounting to Rs 13.25 crore. This was deposited later in the Trust in the garb of donation, since 2011," the affidavit alleged.
Deshmukh has been using this modus operandi of infusing cash as share capital through shell companies and projecting the same as legitimate has built a formidable empire of businesses, the ED said.
Deshmukh was arrested by the ED on November 2, 2021, and is currently in judicial custody. He has sought bail from the HC after his plea was rejected by the special court earlier this month.
It will be heard by Justice Anuja Prabhudessai on Friday.
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