ED says IRS officer Sachin Sawant gifted Rs 1.75-lakh anklet to Malayalam actor Navya Nair

Referring to the statement by one of Sawant’s friends, the ED has claimed that the IRS officer first met Nair when they began working out at the same gym in Sanpada, Navi Mumbai, and that they had stayed in the same building. “When she shifted to Kochi, Mr Sachin Sawant went to meet her 15 to 20 times and also gifted her a gold anklet of around Rs 1,75,000,” the chargesheet states.

When confronted with the statement, Sawant told the ED that Nair was a close friend of his but he had never gifted her anything. He also said that he had been to Kochi multiple times to visit the Guruvayur and Mannarasala temples in Kerala.

The ED has claimed that a flat in Sanpada, measuring 1,032 square feet, was purchased in the name of Seven Hills Constrowell India Private Limited through its director, Balasaheb Sawant, who is the IRS officer’s father.

The ED said the flat was valued at Rs 1.3 crore and that Rs 1.02 crore was paid in cash for its purchase. The flat was later sold and another flat was bought in Dadar for Rs 2.65 crore. The agency also investigated cars owned by those close to Sawant. These include a BMW purchased by a friend in Pune.

The ED case against Sawant is based on a case filed by the CBI last year under the Prevention of Corruption Act alleging that he had assets disproportionate to his income. The ED filed a separate case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act alleging that Sawant had created a layer of transactions to divert funds to conceal the actual source of the money.

The CBI had investigated the alleged amassing of huge assets in the name of Sawant and his family members between January 12, 2011, and August 31, 2020, when he was working in different capacities including at the Nhava Sheva port in the customs department as well as the ED in Mumbai.

Sawant was earlier posted as a deputy director at the ED’s zonal office in Mumbai. The agency claimed that Sawant had amassed the wealth by “virtue of his position” and had received huge amounts of cash from his unexplained sources.