Fin service firm, construction company linked to Mahadev app to be probed in two months, Fadnavis in House

Shelar had said the money collected through online transactions was used to create fake Indian documents of Bangladeshi citizens, and thousands of fake accounts were opened and fake transactions have taken place in AU Small Finance Bank. “Also, a case of evasion of 28 per cent Service Tax and Excise Duty due to the government has been registered. The second accused in the FIR, Amit Sharma, is the partner of Mumbai bomb blast prime accused and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s brother Mustaqeem’s close aide and both are accused of operating the Mahadev app. They have allegedly invested money in Vijay Jain’s JP Infra, a construction company in Mumbai. It is believed that underworld money is coming to Mumbai through this company that is said to be carrying out works in Mumbai’s Goregaon and Mira Road areas,” alleged Shelar.

He also said both Amit Sharma and Vijay Jain are carrying out construction of JP Deck in Goregaon in Mumbai and Rashesh Shah’s Edelweiss has financed it to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore. He asked if the government will be transferring the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Fadnavis said one of the central agencies, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), is already probing the case. “An FIR was filed in Mumbai because one of the activists approached the court and the court directed to file the FIR and subsequently we formed an SIT. But since the ED is already probing the case, there is no proposal of sending the case to the NIA,” he said.

“Based on the information given by MLA Ashish Shelar, Vijay Jain’s JP Infra, Amit Sharma and Rashesh Shah’s Edelweiss will be thoroughly investigated into, their motive behind investing this amount, whether the money was deposited through legal means or was black money involved, are there any malpractices involved, whether there are any criminal links to it will be thoroughly investigated over the next two months. And if any malpractices are found, serious action will be taken,” Fadnavis said.

In a statement issued at the Bombay Stock Exchange, Edelweiss Financial Services said, “This is in context to statements made by Adv Ashish Shelar today, we would like to place on record the facts on the matter. Edelweiss has no financial relationships with JP Infra Mumbai, JP Infra India Pvt Ltd and has not financed projects like JP Deck in Goregaon, neither anywhere else as alleged today. We state categorically that these claims are unfounded, baseless and seem motivated. Edelweiss has always conducted its business with the highest levels of integrity and in full compliance with all regulatory requirements.”

He also informed that it has been found that information of the bank account used for depositing money for betting and playing online games and also for sending money won in these transactions has been obtained, which has revealed that AU Small Finance Bank has a total of 16 accounts and information on 15 bank accounts / account holders has been obtained. “It has been found that the said bank accounts are in the states of Maharashtra, Rajasthan, New Delhi, Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana. Currently, verification of the said bank accounts / account holders is in progress. Also, an in-depth investigation is being conducted for non-payment of GST to the state exchequer on the profits received from these betting apps, thus causing a huge loss to the state government,” he said.