X: @the_news_21
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) recently made headlines as it carried out extensive searches at various premises associated with Baramati Agro, a company linked to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Rohit Pawar, who is also the grandnephew of NCP leader Sharad Pawar. These actions were part of an ongoing investigation into an alleged money laundering case connected to the Maharashtra State Cooperative (MSC) Bank.
The ED’s searches encompassed locations including the Kannad Sugar mill in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar and two offices of Baramati Agro in Pimpri-Chinchwad and Pune. This investigation revolves around the sale of the Kannad Sahakari Sakhar Kharkana (SSK) to Baramati Agro and involved searches at Hitech Engineering Corporation India Ltd, Samruddhi Sugar Pvt Ltd, and individuals associated with these companies.
The scrutiny revealed intricate financial transactions. Notably, it was found that Hitech Engineering received Rs. 5 crores from Baramati Agro, which was then utilized as Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) for the auction of Kannad SSK. This revelation has put all entities involved in the auction under the ED’s radar.
The sale of Kannad SSK has been marred by alleged irregularities, prompting the ED’s investigation. The suspicion looms over the undervalued price of Rs. 50 crores at which Baramati Agro acquired the cooperative sugar factory, suggesting a manipulated auction orchestrated through the Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank.
In response to these actions, Supriya Sule, an MP and daughter of Sharad Pawar, accused the ruling BJP of political vendetta, denouncing the ED’s actions as politically motivated. She highlighted previous instances of ED raids targeting family members and emphasized their resolve against such tactics.
The MSCB scam under investigation involves loans granted to sugar factories without due procedure, subsequent classification as Non-Performing Assets, and their sale at undervalued rates to associates of the accused.
The genesis of the probe traces back to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed before the Bombay High Court, shedding light on alleged irregularities at the bank. The case evolved with an FIR by the Economic Offences Wing and the ED’s money laundering case in 2019.
Earlier developments saw the filing of chargesheets against several entities, including Guru Commodity Services Pvt Ltd, Jarandeshwar Sugar Mills Pvt Ltd, and chartered accountant Yogesh Bagrecha. While deputy CM Ajit Pawar and his wife were allegedly linked to some companies, they were not named in the chargesheets.
Recent supplementary chargesheets filed by the ED in August 2023 named more individuals, including NCP’s MLA Prajakt Tanpure, former NCP MLA Prasad Tanpure, Shiv Sena’s Arjun Khotkar, Congress’s Ranjeet Deshmukh, Subhash Deshmukh, Sameer Mulay, Jugal Tapadia, and several companies, adding layers to the unfolding investigation.
