Mumbai, February 7 A special court in Mumbai on Saturday refused to acquit Premier Port Links Pvt Ltd, a company allegedly controlled by the family of former Maharashtra minister Anil Deshmukh, in a money laundering case, while ruling that there was strong prima facie evidence against it.
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has alleged that the company was used to launder proceeds of crime.
The firm, managed by Anil Deshmukh's son, Salil Deshmukh, had sought discharge, claiming that they had been implicated falsely.
According to the prosecution, the company obtained illegal loans totaling Rs 2.20 crore from M/s Flourish Properties Pvt Ltd, a firm in which the Deshmukh family allegedly invested funds through a fictitious share capital.
Approximately 50% of the company's shares were allotted to Salil Deshmukh for just Rs 17.5 lakh, despite the company possessing assets including 20 acres of land in Uran, valued at approximately Rs 5.4 crore, the ED alleged.
The federal investigation agency stated that these transactions constituted a "criminal conspiracy" designed to launder and integrate illicit funds into the legitimate financial system.
The special judge for Money Laundering Act cases ruled that it appeared prima facie that the company was one of the entities controlled and managed by the co-accused, the then Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and his family.
The court stated that the company was used as part of a larger corporate structure created for laundering and integrating illicit funds.
The special judge concluded that "the prosecution has made a strong prima facie case against the company".
The ED's case is that while serving as the state home minister, Deshmukh, through then assistant police inspector Sachin Waze, collected Rs 4.7 crore from various bars and restaurants in Mumbai. The money was then laundered and routed to Shri Sai Shikshan Sansthan, an educational trust based in Nagpur, controlled by the Deshmukh family.
Deshmukh and Waze (later dismissed from the police force) are the prime accused in the case.
