Top Mhada officer’s brother held for abetting his graft

Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday arrested Nilesh Thakur, brother of suspended Mhada deputy collector Nitish Thakur, for aiding and abetting the latter in laundering his illicit money to the tune of Rs 280 crore using his bank accounts.

Nitish Thakur is wanted in a money-laundering case and has been on the run since 2013 and he is suspected to be holed-up in Nepal. He was arrested by the Thane Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in March 2012 and had jumped bail in April 2013.

Investigators said that Nilesh was arrested for assisting Nitish in laundering several crore of illicit money using his bank accounts.

Sources in the ED said that Nitesh Thakur had floated a construction company in the name of his brother Nilesh, which was used as a front to launder the money. The transactions were conducted through multiple bank accounts in the name of Nilesh.

“Nilesh was the director of the construction company that was floated and he is the only family member named in our case for abetting Nitish. He was also not traceable in the case,” said a senior ED officer, requesting anonymity.

A Mumbai court had issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against Nilesh and had asked the agency to track him down and produce him before the court by May 16. The officials tracked down him in Mumbai and he was produced before the court on Wednesday. He has been sent to judicial custody till May 31.

The ED probe was preceded by an ACB probe in March 2012 when it accused him of amassing wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income.

His assets were found to be over Rs 200 crore, while his income was only Rs 28,000.

The ACB had booked his mother, wife and brother for abetting Thakur in their case.