MSC bank case: ED attaches assets of Maharashtra minister Prajakt Tanpure
The total value of attached land belonging to Tanpure, who is the minister of state for urban development, energy, tribal development, higher and technical education and disaster management, is Rs 7.6 crore, said ED in a statement. Tanpure won the assembly elections on an NCP ticket.
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Prajakt TanpureTHE ENFORCEMENT Directorate (ED) on Monday attached assets, including 90 acres of land of erstwhile Ram Ganesh Gadkari Sahkari Sakhar Karkhana held by Takshshila Securities Pvt. Ltd. and two pieces of non agricultural land belonging to Maharashtra state minister Prajakt Tanpure under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the Maharahstra State Co-operative (MSC) Bank case.
The total value of attached land belonging to Tanpure, who is the minister of state for urban development, energy, tribal development, higher and technical education and disaster management, is Rs 7.6 crore, said ED in a statement. Tanpure won the assembly elections on an NCP ticket.
The ED probe found that in 2007, MSC Bank auctioned Ram Ganesh Gadkari SSK at an “undervalued price and without following due process”. The sugar factory was sold to Prasad Sugar and Allied Agro Products Ltd., a firm owned by Tanpure, for Rs 12.95 crore against the reserve price of Rs 26.32 crore, said the ED.
According to the agency, the only other bidder in the process was also a “proxy” of Prasad Sugar. The ED also found that though the auction took place in 2007, Prasad Sugar paid the sale amount only in 2010, in violation of the statutory condition of completing payment within a period of 52 days. In 2011, Prasad Sugar sold the factory land to Takshshila Securities.
“Money trail investigation revealed that the funds utilised by Prasad Sugar for payment was majorly received from other parties without any rationale. It is also revealed that part of funds to purchase the sugar factory also came from Ranjit Deshmukh, chairman of Ram Ganesh Gadkari SSK from 1995 to 2004,” said the ED.
It said that Prasad Sugar is a family-held entity of Tanpure who was an influential member of the board of directors of MSC Bank between August 2004 and March 2010.
The ED case pertaining to the alleged fraud at MSC Bank originates from a criminal PIL filed on January 28, 2019, before the Bombay High Court alleging that then top executives of the bank — chairman, MDs, directors, CEOs and managerial staff — as well as office-bearers and directors of Sakhar Karkhana, Soot Girnis and other processing units were given loans in a fraudulent manner by the bank and, in the process, several illegalities were committed.
In September 2019, a month before the Maharashtra assembly polls, the ED registered a money laundering case against NCP chief Sharad Pawar and his nephew Ajit Pawar in connection with the alleged scam.
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