Mumbai: ED Attaches IPS Officer's Husband's Properties In ₹263 Crore Income Tax Refund Fraud Case

Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Mumbai has provisionally attached the Malabar Hill flat of an IPS officer's husband, Purushottam Chavan, in a money laundering case linked to the Rs 263 crore Income Tax Refund (ITR) fraud case.

The agency also attached assets, including land parcels in Lonavala and Khandala of other accused Rajesh Batreja and a balance in a company's bank account, insurance policies of accused Rajesh Shetty and Bhushan Anant Patil, totaling Rs. 14.02 crore. The attachment has been done under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).

Chavan was arrested by the ED in May. Other arrested accused in the case are former Income Tax Officer Tanaji Mandal Adhikari, Bhushan Patil, Rajesh Shetty, and Rajesh Brijlal Batreja. All, including Chavan, are in judicial custody.

The prime accused in the ITR fraud case, Adhikari, whom the Central agency arrested last year, along with others, were involved in fraudulently generating and issuing TDS refunds from the Income Tax Department to the tune of Rs 263.95 crore.

The ED investigation revealed that Rajesh Brijlal Batreja helped Tanaji Mandal Adhikari and others divert Proceeds of Crime (PoC) of Rs 55.50 crore outside India with the help of Anirudh Gandhi. Subsequent to diversion of PoC, Rajesh Brijlal Batreja with the help of other persons in Dubai, concealed the PoC outside India. Part of the concealed PoC has further been invested in the 02 Indian companies based in Mumbai and Gurugram under the guise of share investment by making cross border remittances.

Initially, Rajesh Batreja voluntarily repatriated a small part of the PoC totaling to around Rs. 1.70 Crore. Later, instead of bringing back the remaining PoC, Rajesh Batreja in connivance with Purushottam Chavan diverted and diluted the PoC. They have also concealed the PoC in India and outside India in close association with persons based in Dubai.

After IPS officer's husband Chavan's role surfaced in the ED's probe, on May 19, the ED carried out searches at his and his IPS officer wife's house and seized several property documents.

Earlier, Tanaji Mandal Adhikari, Bhushan Anant Patil, Rajesh Shantaram Shetty, Rajesh Brijlal Batreja and Purushottam Chavan Were arrested and presently, all of them (5 accused) are under Judicial Custody. Prosecution Complaint has also been filed on September 2023 against Tanaji Mandal Adhikari and 10 others, cognizance of which has also been taken by the Special (PMLA) Court.Including this attachment, total seized and attached of immovable/movable properties in this case is around Rs. 182 Crore.