NMMC official, who was booked by Anti-Corruption Bureau for misappropriating Rs 681.65 crore funds over 7 years, allegedly bought multiple properties worth Rs 12 crore across Maharashtra
Prakash Kulkarni, the suspended official, is on the run; (right) Kishor Dhole, the computer operator, who has also been booked
Prakash Kulkarni, the suspended official, is on the run; (right) Kishor Dhole, the computer operator, who has also been booked
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has opened a Pandora's box of suspended Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Property Taxes) of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) Prakash Kulkarni's treachery. Kulkarni, who was booked by the ACB on Wednesday for misappropriating funds of Rs 681.65 crore over seven years, allegedly bought multiple properties worth Rs 12 crore across the state with his ill-gotten wealth. Besides, he allegedly carried out his fraud with the blessings of political bigwigs.
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Sources in the ACB told mid-day that following raids on 10 places, investigating officials have found that Kulkarni, who absconding, has multiple properties in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Pune and Solapur, including two row houses, a few flats, commercial shops, plots, an entertainment company, a financial company and many plots of agricultural land. He also allegedly co-owns cinema halls Max and Maxus in Nerul and Palghar. The raided places included three of Kulkarni's residences in Navi Mumbai. Many incriminating documents pertaining to the alleged fraud were found during the searches.
Likely to be worth more
"Some of these properties are in his name and some in his family members'. The properties are estimated to be worth R12 crore. The estimation may go up in the coming days. We are investigating if these were bought made by Kulkarni from the ill-gotten wealth. We will soon initiate a disproportionate assets inquiry against him," said a senior ACB official.
Kulkarni's aide and auditor Dinesh Gawari, who has also been booked by the ACB in the funds misappropriation case, is suspected to own five residential flats in Navi Mumbai and Thane worth around Rs 3 crore.
Blessings of politicos
ACB sources said Kulkarni, who was the chief collector and assessor of property taxes since 2007, fudged records during seven years of his tenure under the blessings of bigwigs of one political party. They declined to mention the name of the party.
Kulkarni was suspended in May last year by NMMC Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe for administrative irregularities, and was booked under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the IPC. Mundhe sounded off the top brass of the ACB about suspected high-level corruption and fraudulent practices in the NMMC and sought a thorough inquiry by it. "After a three-month-long inquiry, the Thane unit of the ACB booked an offence on Wednesday," said Bipin Kumar Singh, additional director general, ACB.
Manipulated records
An ACB official said Kulkarni was responsible for preparing, printing and distributing bills of property taxes and their collection. But Kulkarni, with two Gawari and computer operator Kishor Dhole fudged entries to exempt nearly 3,301 property holders from paying their dues.
"The system was rejigged to leave out the names of these property holders from the defaulters' list. Kulkarni's this action caused a loss of R681 crore to the NMMC in over seven years," another senior ACB official said. Besides, he allegedly allowed leeway to holders of 18 properties by feeding in smaller tax bills against their names in the system.
Another ACB official said he also issued no-objection certificates to properties holders with large dues. In several cases, he issued two duplicate bills against one property for the same period.
Sources said in the last few years, the property tax collection department was managed by only a handful of officials, who were under Kulkarni's direct command. "The ACB's findings show that Kulkarni misused his power and position, and indulged in criminal misconduct and fraudulent practices to gain peculiar gains from property holders and caused a huge loss to the NMMC," said Nishandar Sangramsinh, superintendent of police, Thane ACB.
Kulkarni and the two aides have been booked under sections 13(1)(D) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, and 120B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security) and 471 (sing as genuine a forged document or electronic record) of the IPC.
"We are looking into who worked in connivance with Kulkarni. We have sealed the Vashi and Kharghar residences of Kulkarni," said Sangramsinh. Prior to his suspension, Kulkarni was felicitated for earning a record revenue of R516 crore for the NMMC — R109 crore more from the previous financial year.
10
No. of places raided so far by the ACB
7
No. of years over which Kulkarni tampered records
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