ED attaches 90 acres of erstwhile Ram Ganesh Gadkari sugar factory

 

 

 

IN YET another jolt to the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Government, Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached the assets, including 90 acres of land of erstwhile Ram Ganesh Gadkari Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana held in the name of Takshshila Securities Pvt Ltd and 4.6 acres non-agricultural land (worth Rs 7.6 crore) belonging to Maharashtra Minister Prajakt Tanpure, on Monday. ED probe found that the Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank (MSCB) had auctioned Ram Ganesh Gadkari Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana at an undervalued price and without following due process in 2007. It was found that part of funds to purchase the Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana (SSK) also came from former Maharashtra Minister and senior Congress leader Ranjit Deshmukh. He was Chairman of Ram Ganesh Gadkari Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana from 1995 to 2004.

 

Investigating the alleged scam in MSCB, ED had initiated the probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) which is based on the FIR registered on August 26, 2019 by Economic Offences Wing (EoW) of Mumbai Police. The EoW of Mumbai Police had registered the case under Sections 120(b), 420, 467,468, 471 of the Indian Penal Code, read with Sections 13(1)(b) and 13(1)(c) of Prevention of Corruption Act in pursuance to the order of the Bombay High Court (dated August 22, 2019) on allegations that co-operative sugar factories (known as Sahakari Sakhar Karkhanas) were sold by the then officials and directors of MSCB at throw away prices to entities without following due procedure. The EoW of Mumbai had filed a closure report in the court which is pending. Minister of State for Urban Development and Energy, Prajakt Tanpure is the fourth leader of the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to face the heat from the central agency.

 

While Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik was arrested last week on money laundering charges, his former colleague Anil Deshmukh was held in a separate case and a sugar mill linked to State Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was also attached by the ED last year in the alleged MSCB scam case. Tanpure, who was questioned in this case by the agency earlier, is an NCP MLA from the Rahuri Assembly seat. According to ED, 90 acres of land of erstwhile Ram Ganesh Gadkari Sahkari Sakhar Karkhana (SSK) held in the name of Takshshila Securities Pvt. Ltd, and two parcels of non-agricultural lands of 4.6 acres in Ahmednagar district belonging to Prajakt Tanpure worth Rs 7.6 crore have been attached. The total value of the attached assets is about Rs 13.41 crore. In an official press communique, ED stated that MSCB undertook auction of the Ram Ganesh Gadkari Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana was sold to Prasad Sugar and Allied Agro Products Ltd, a firm of Prajakt Tanpure (son of Prasad Tanpure) for Rs 12.95 crore against the reserve price of Rs 26.32 crore. The agency stated that its probe found that Prasad Sugar was the ‘sole bidder’ and to project the bid process competitive, the signature of a ‘second bidder’ was taken by MSCB officials on the bid documents.

 

“This ‘second bidder’ did not deposit the required earnest money deposit (EMD) amount and was found to be a proxy of Prasad Sugar. “Though the auction was conducted in 2007, Prasad Sugar completed payment of sale amount in 2010 against the statutory condition of completing payment within 52 days,” the agency alleged. Money trail investigation found that the fund Prasad Sagar used for payment was majorly received from other parties “without any rationale.” “Prasad Sugar is a family-held entity of Shri Prasad Tanpure, who was one of the prominent and influential members of the Board of Directors of MSCB during the period between August 2004-March 2010,” it added. The agency claimed that after taking possession of the entire assets of Ramganesh Gadkari SSK, the plant and machinery were dismantled, transported and installed at a new location in Vambori, Ahmednagar. “The land and structure were sold to Takshshila Securities in 2011,” it said. The ED, last year, had attached a sugar mill worth over Rs 65 crore in this case claiming that a company linked to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and his wife were involved.