Businessman Pravin Raut 'acting as front' for some influential persons: ED tells court

The Enforcement Directorate has claimed before a special PMLA court here that Maharashtrabased businessman Pravin Raut made payments to a politically exposed person and is acting as a front or in collusion with some influential peopleRaut arrested by the ED on February 2 under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act PMLA was produced before the court on Wednesday after the end of his initial remand The court extended his ED custody till FridayNotably the agency had also questioned Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Rauts wife Varsha Raut last year in connection with the PMC Bank case and her purported links with Pravin Rauts wifePravin Raut a former director of a company called Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd was arrested by the ED in a money laundering probe linked to a Rs 1034 crore land scam related to the redevelopment of a chawl in MumbaiOn Wednesday the ED while seeking further custody of the businessman told the court that the ongoing investigation of the money laundering case is at a crucial stage and the accused is one of the key persons who is instrumental in generation layering and integration of proceeds of the crimeThe case against him pertains to alleged irregularities in the sale of FSI floor space index of a plot by a firm linked to him that is a subsidiary company of the Housing Development Infrastructure LtdThe HDIL is under investigation by the ED and few other agencies in connection with an alleged fraud of about Rs 4300 crore at the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative PMC BankThe ED in its remand plea said it appears that Pravin Raut is acting as a front or in collusion with some influential personsDuring the course of investigation it was revealed that Pravin Raut made payments to certain politically exposed persons it saidListing some instances of the payment the ED claimed Pravin Raut paid Rs 55 lakh from proceeds of the crime to the wife of a politically exposed person through the accounts of his wifeThe money was returned after a gap of 10 years without interest only after the ED initiated the investigation it saidThe ED also stated that booking of tickets and hotel accommodations for domestic as well as international travel of the politically exposed person were being made from the funds of Pravin RautLand was purchased in Alibaug Raigad district and huge amounts were paid in cash for the dealings These purchases were made in 20102012 which is after Pravin Raut received money from HDIL and needs to be further examined it saidThe probe agency said these leads uncovered so far need to be firmly establishedPravin Rauts custody is also required to confront him with further evidences gathered so far to come to a reasonable conclusion the ED said in its pleaThe agency had earlier said the iquestprobe revealed that Rs 95 crore has been siphoned off through HDIL by one of the accused Pravin Raut in active conspiracy and connivance with various personsThe source of the funds were illegal availed loansadvances by the HDIL from PMC Bank There was no document or agreement in support of these payments made to Pravin Rautiquest the ED had allegedIt said iquestas per the ledger of HDIL the funds were given to Pravin Raut for acquiring land in Palghar areaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever