Sachin Waze moves court to drop ED case, says he took no money from bar owners

In a plea filed this week before the special court, Waze has claimed that firstly there is no sanction taken by the investigators, mandatory to prosecute public servants under the Criminal Procedure Code. Calling himself a ‘victim of circumstances’ and a ‘whistle-blower’, Waze is claiming that he had to succumb to the pressure of Deshmukh, and that the role attributed to him, that of collecting the money from the bar owners, does not constitute an offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

“The applicant (Waze) has neither the intention nor knowledge of the further usage of the proceeds of crime nor participation in the money-laundering allegedly done by the accused Anil Deshmukh….It is the prosecution case that the applicant is not involved either in enjoying the proceeds of crime by its concealment or acquisition or use of projecting it as untainted property in any manner whatsoever,” the plea says.

Waze, who is on bail in the ED case, is in jail in another case filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for allegedly planting an explosive-laden car outside the home of industrialist Mukesh Ambani and the subsequent murder of a Thane-based man, linked to the car.