Patra Chawl money laundering case: Sanjay Raut’s wife Varsha joins ED probe
ED sources said that suspicious transactions that are under the agency’s radar are linked to Varsha Raut’s bank accounts
Varsha Raut, the wife of Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, on Saturday morning appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Mumbai’s Ballard Estate to record her statement in the Patra Chawl money laundering case.
ED sources said that suspicious transactions that are under the agency’s radar are linked to Varsha Raut’s bank accounts. Sanjay Raut was arrested by the central probe agency on July 31 and has been remanded in ED’s custody till August 8 by a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court.
The investigation has allegedly revealed that the Shiv Sena MP made huge cash payments to purchase 10 plots in Kihim and Alibaug, bought jointly in the names of Swapna Patkar, a co-owner of these plots along with Varsha.
Swapna, who is the wife of Raut’s close associate Sujit, reportedly told the ED that cash payments were made to buy these plots in Alibaug, and also said that Raut threatened her to withdraw her statement.
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The money used to buy land in Alibaug was sourced from Pravin Raut, who had allegedly received ₹112 crores from construction company HDIL in the Patra Chawl land scam, ED claimed, adding that this amount was part of the proceeds of crime of overall scam money of ₹1,039.79 crore.
These proceeds of crime were allegedly generated by Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan, Sarang Kumar Wadhawan and Pravin, all directors of M/s GuruAshish Construction Pvt Ltd and others, by selling FSI (floor space index) of the land. The 47-acre land at Patra Chawl in Goregaon originally belonged to MHADA (Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority) and there were 672 tenants at the said plot, the ED said.
Besides this, Varsha, who is a teacher by profession, also allegedly received lakhs of rupees in her bank accounts directly/indirectly from Pravin, who claimed that this money was a friendly loan.
The anti-money laundering agency earlier questioned Varsha in January this year in connection with a PMC bank scam case.