MLAs from Congress on Tuesday accused senior BJP MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha and his real estate company Lodha Group of being involved in hawala transactions. Congress MLC Bhai Jagtap claims that an I-T report mentions that Lodha Group has been involved in numerous international transactions. The legislators have demanded a CBI probe of the Lodha group’s financial transactions. Talking to reporters at the MRCC office, party MLC Bhai Jagtap said that his allegations related to hawala transactions is being proved with the help of an internal report by the Income-Tax department. Mr Jagtap said that the report mentions that the Lodha Group owned a company called Panega Holdings Ltd, which owns properties outside India. The Indian entities are remitting money to this company in the guise of rent and marketing charges without any benefits being derived from the same. A statement received from the Lodha group mentions that the allegations by Mr Jagtap are politically motivated and the |attempt was made at the behest of a south Mumbai Congress leader. Excerpts from the statement are as follows: The Lodha Group is fully compliant with all laws and regulations related to the Income-Tax. Following certain procedures in January 2011, the group has approached the appropriate authority, as specified under law, to bring closure to the issues raised by the I-T dept The Congress leader, who has done nothing for the area and is afraid of facing elections and have been trying to level false allegations It is also to be noted that no order has been passed in this matter in the last 30 months against the group.
