Mumbai: Company linked to Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut’s daughters under ED scanner

Sources said that the agency suspects that a part of the proceeds of the illegal sale of the FSI may have been invested in Magpie DFS, where Sanjay Raut’s daughters Purvashi and Vidhita are directors.

The ED arrested Pravin Raut on Wednesday (https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/ed-arrests-businessman-pravin-raut-fsi-sale-7753194/) after several hours of questioning and remanded him to custody till February 10.

The ED has found that Guruashish Construction was given a contract from the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) a few years ago to redevelop the Patra Chawl in Goregaon West in suburban Mumbai.

Sources said Pravin Raut allegedly negotiated the deal between the MHADA and the HDIL. The ED has alleged that the company had to develop around 3,000 flats for people living in Patra chawl and use the rest of the land for private sale. However, Guruashish Construction allegedly fraudulently sold the FSI worth Rs 1,034 crore to different builders without building the mandatory tenements for the people living in the chawl.

The HDIL is accused of a Rs 4,300-crore fraud at the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank.

Earlier, the ED attached assets worth Rs 72 crore of Raut under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the PMC Bank case.

The ED alleged that Raut siphoned Rs 95 crore from loans taken by the HDIL through Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank. It found that Raut transferred around Rs 1.6 crore to his wife Madhuri Raut, who is a business partner of Sanjay Raut’s wife Varsha Raut. Of this Rs 1.6 crore, Madhuri allegedly transferred around Rs 55 crore to Varsha as an interest-free loan. This money was then allegedly invested by Varsha in buying a flat at Dadar.