Godman Ashok Kharat sent to ED custody in money laundering probe
The ED alleges Ashok Kharat got 43 accounts opened in one day with a co-operative credit society in 2021.
The ED arrested Ashok Kharat on Tuesday and produced him before the special court designated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. (File photo) A special court in Mumbai on Wednesday sent self-styled godman Ashok Kharat into the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) till May 26, in connection with a Rs 70 crore money laundering probe, involving multiple accounts opened in a single day in a cooperative credit society. Kharat told court that the credit society officials had convinced him to deposit the cash with them, with the promise of better interests.
The ED alleges Kharat got 43 accounts opened in one day with a co-operative credit society in 2021. These accounts were opened using documents of “devotees” and others, without their consent, with transactions of more than Rs 70 crore seen in them, the ED alleged. Kharat claimed before court that he was not informed about this and had only deposited the cash in the society and not a private bank due to the promise of nine per cent interest rates.
The ED arrested Kharat on Tuesday and produced him before the special court designated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Kharat, who was arrested by the police in March following multiple sexual assault complaints, was brought from Nashik jail after a special court issued a production warrant for him on ED’s plea.
Ashok Kharat’s modus operandi
Kharat is alleged to have been part of organised criminal activities carried out through religious manipulation, emotional exploitation and wrongful intimidation. Victims were induced into incurring expenses under the pretext of religious guidance. The ED has alleged that one complainant, a businessman, incurred expenses through ‘ extortion’ done by Kharat including a luxury, diamond white coloured Mercedes Benz GLS 350D vehicle, costing Rs 95 lakh, foreign trips costing Rs 1 crore, medical treatment in the US, payment for various furniture for his farmhouse, totalling to Rs 5.62 crore. The ED alleged that similar amounts taken from others were through his criminal activities.
The ED claims that Kharat opened 60 accounts with the Samata Nagari Cooperative Credit Society, in names of various individuals but linked to his phone number, with him as the nominee. Of these 60, 43 were opened on a single day. The ED through its special public prosecutor Arvind Aghav also said that cash deposits of Rs 21.25 crore and withdrawals of Rs 23.87 crore were done by Kharat.
“…the modus operandi involved depositing cash into the 48 accounts, converting the same into fixed deposits, and thereafter withdrawing cash, while in the remaining 12 accounts funds were transferred from the original 48 accounts and subsequently withdrawn in cash,” the ED said. Further, deposits were kept under Rs 2 lakh to avoid KYC compliances and withdrawals were made from pre-signed withdrawal slips from account holders.
Kharat’s lawyer, Niranjan Mundargi, said that the agency has all documents linked to their probe and argued Kharat’s further custody is not required.
Special judge C S Baviskar sent Kharat to ED custody till May 26 for further probe.
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