Another NCP minister in Maharashtra, faces ED heat as Prajakt Tanpure's land attached

The ED on Monday attached over 94 acres of land belonging to Maharashtra minister Prajakt Tanpure and others in connection with its money laundering probe into the alleged scam in the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB).

He is the fourth leader of the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which is ruling in alliance with the Shiv Sena and Congress in Maharashtra, 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 attached by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) last year in the MSCB case.

Also Read | ED arrests Nawab Malik in money laundering case

Tanpure, who was questioned in this case by the agency earlier, is the minister of state for urban development, energy, tribal development, higher and technical education and disaster management in the Maharashtra government.

He is an NCP MLA from the Rahuri Assembly seat.

The case pertains to allegations that cooperative sugar factories were sold by the then officials and directors of the bank at throw-away prices to their relatives and some people.

The ED case is based on an August 2019 FIR of the Mumbai Police Economic Offences Wing.

The police complaint came after the Bombay High Court ordered on August 22, 2019, a probe into the allegations of selling sugar factories in the Maharashtra cooperative sector allegedly through fraudulent means.

According to the Enforcement Directorate, 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 lands is Rs 13.41 crore, it said.

"MSCB undertook auction of Ram Ganesh Gadkari SSK in 2007 at an undervalued price. Without following due process, the said SSK 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 ED said in a statement.

The Enforcement Directorate 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."

It was found that part of funds to purchase SSK also came from Ranjit Deshmukh, the former chairman of Ram Ganesh Gadkari SSK from 1995 to 2004, it said.

"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 said.

The agency claimed that after taking possession of the entire assets of 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.

The Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing has filed a closure report into the alleged MSCB scam case and it is "pending" before the court.

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