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  Uncovered chain of firms Sameer used to launder money: ED

Uncovered chain of firms Sameer used to launder money: ED

Published : Feb 3, 2016, 2:53 am IST
Updated : Feb 3, 2016, 2:53 am IST

Agency claims a number of ‘non-existent’ companies had invested money in the firms controlled by Bhujbals

Agency claims a number of ‘non-existent’ companies had invested money in the firms controlled by Bhujbals

The Enforcement Directorate has claimed to have unearthed a dubious chain of companies that were allegedly used by Sameer Bhujbal for money laundering. According to the ED, a number of “non-existent” companies had invested money in the firms controlled by the Bhujbals. The ED has also registered the statements of several people, including the charted accountant of the Bhujbals’ Mumbai Educational Trust (MET), who were involved in routing alleged black money back in the financial system using hawala transactions.

Sunil Naik, CA of MET, has told the ED shares of Pravesh Constructions Private Limited and Armstrong Energy Private Limited, which were owned and controlled by the Bhujbals, were sold to “dubious entities” against cash at “unrealistic high premium” of Rs 9,900 per share, while the share value was a mere Rs 100 each. Rs 125 crore was channeled in these companies by this method, Mr Naik is said to have told the ED.

The ED has also recorded the statement of market operator Suresh Jajodia, who was allegedly involved in arranging funds in the bank accounts of the two firms. He has told the ED that he used to receive cash from the MET office of the Bhujbals at Bandra and used to transfer it to his Kolkota-based contracts through certain domestic hawala operators. Mr Jajodia’s employee Prabhakar Sogam has also confirmed to the ED that he visited MET office on number of times to collect cash as instructed by his boss.

A statement recorded by ED of Sanjiv Jain, a Kolkata-based financial consultant, also corroborates the claims of Mr Jajodia. He has admitted to have received Rs 8 crore in cash from Mr Naik for arranging cheque payments in the accounts of Pravesh Constructions Private Limited and Armstrong Energy Private Limited.

The ED also conducted an investigation to ascertain genuineness of Hingora Finvest Private Limited, the largest shareholder of Pravesh Constructions Private Limited and found out that the said company existed only on paper. The concerned CA, company secretaries and auditors have admitted to the ED that they had verified the books of accounts of Hingora Finvest Private Limited without looking into the genuineness of the said records against acceptance of fees.

“Two other shareholding companies of Pravesh Constructions Private Limited are also non-existent entities,” a source said.

The ACB Mumbai has also shared a report with the ED that they received from the assistant commissioner of police, Kolkata in May 2015. According to the said report, three Kolkata-based companies that have invested in the companies belonging to the Bhujbals could not be found at their declared addresses.

Five months later, in October 2015, the ACB shared another report with the ED, according to which 13 more companies that had invested in the Bhujbals’ companies were not available on their given addresses. “It clearly establishes that special purpose vehicles were created merely on paper with the sole intention to channelise black money,” the source said.

The ED has also asked for information from Kotak Mahindra Bank regarding 12 companies that have accounts with the bank and had invested money in the companies held by the Bhujbals. The bank in its two separate reports in July last year informed the ED that all these companies were found on their registered address and in one of the cases the registered address itself was non-existent. Similarly, in August 2015, the Union Bank of India informed the ED that two companies that have an account with them were found to be non-existent. Three more companies from Mumbai that have the same registered address could not be traced by the ED on the given address in Dhobi Talao area.

However, Sameer Bhujbal denied all the charges and said that he was ready to answer all questions. He said that he had written to the agency on Friday itself, showing willingness to visit them. “When they had summoned me earlier, I was busy and not available. But at that time also I had written to them that I could visit their office on a date favourable for both of us. In fact, I wrote to them last Friday itself. I have also got my statement recorded by the Kharghar police, deposed several times before the Anti-Corruption Bureau and I was not going to run anywhere. I had cooperated with ED officials through Monday, suddenly I was placed under arrest at 1 am on Tuesday,” he said.