MSCB scam: ED attaches properties of Maharashtra minister Prajakt Tanpure
India Today
In August 2019, an FIR was lodged on allegations that some cooperative sugar factories were fraudulently sold at throwaway prices by the then officials and directors of MSCB.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached over 94 acres of land belonging to Maharashtra minister of state Prajakt Tanpure and others in the alleged Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) scam.
According to the ED, 90 acres of land of erstwhile Ram Ganesh Gadkari Sahkari Sakhar Karkhana (SSK) held in the name of Takshshila Securities and two parcels of non-agricultural lands of 4.6 acres in Ahmednagar district worth Rs 7.6 crore belonging to Prajakt Tanpure have been attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The ED had initiated a PMLA investigation based on an FIR filed on August 26, 2019, by the Economic Offence Wing (EOW), Mumbai Police, under Section 120B read with 420,467,468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 13(1)(b) & 13(1)(c) of Prevention of Corruption Act.
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The FIR was lodged in pursuance of the Bombay High Court's order dated August 22, 2019, on the allegations that the cooperative sugar factories known as SSKs were fraudulently sold at throwaway prices by the then officials and directors of Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) to related entities without following due procedure.
The EOW has filed a closure report in the competent court, which is pending.
The investigation conducted under PMLA revealed that MSCB undertook the auction of Ram Ganesh Gadkari SSK in the year 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 for a mere Rs 12.95 crore against the reserve price of Rs 26.32 crore. The probe also revealed that even though Prasad Sugar was the sole bidder, to project the bid process as competitive, the signature of a fake second bidder was taken by the MSCB officials on the documents. This ‘second bidder’ did not deposit the required EMD amount and was found to be a proxy of Prasad Sugar.
