Purshottam Chavan, Husband Of IPS Officer, Allegedly Involved In Counterfeiting Government Property Documents: ED Investigation

Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has unearthed a labyrinth of deception implicating Purushottam Chavan, husband of a high-ranking IPS officer in the Maharashtra cadre, who was recently arrested in a Rs 263 crore Income Tax TDS refund fraud case. Chavan is allegedly to have created fake documents of non-existing government quota properties and defrauded people.

Investigations have revealed that Chavan not only created fake documents for 14 properties in Mumbai and Transferable Development Rights (TDR) for land parcels in Mumbai and Puned worth Rs 150 crore, but also forged the signature of a Deputy Secretary of the Maharashtra government to authenticate these counterfeit papers. Additionally, Chavan registered these forged documents through a Registrar.

A search was conducted on May 19 at the IPS officer’s official residence in Colaba, after which her husband, Purshottam Chavan was arrested in Rs 263 crore Income Tax TDS refund fraud case.

During the search, officials found documents for flats in Mumbai and Thane, including two large flats measuring 3000 and 1600 sq ft in Worli, and TDRs for land parcles in the two cities. The property documents are registered in the names of multiple persons.

According to ED officials, upon initiating the investigation, they discovered that all property documents were fabricated by Chavan. ED officials reached out to individuals in whose names the property documents and TDR were registered, revealing that Chavan had told people that he had a close contact in state government and ministers and had secured flats worth crores of rupees in various locations at a fraction of their price under different diffrent government quotas. He siphoned off a total of Rs. 8 to 10 crores from gullible individuals by selling these non-existent properties.

The ED also discovered that the documents used forged signatures and fake photographs of the Deputy Secretary of the state government. Notably, the name of the individual at the Deputy Secretary level of the Ministry was accurate, but the signature and photograph were fake and forged.

Most of the documents were created between 2019 and 2022. According to sources, this period is crucial because during this time, the wife of the accused held a prime posting in Mumbai. Investigations in the case have not linked her to the case.

The ED found that Purshottam Chavan has only two properties registered in his name - one in Malabar Hill and one in Dadar. Additionally, the recovered documents consist solely of forgeries, indicating his involvement in fraudulent activities.

The ED also uncovered bank transactions from several individuals who transferred substantial amounts into his account for the purported purchase of these flats.

According to ED officials The ED is likely to formally request the Mumbai Crime Branch to register a case against Purushottam Chavan for his involvement in government fraud involving fabrication of fake government documents to perpetrate fraudulent activities.

Chavan is currently in Judicial custody and allegedly accused of possession, concealment, and diversion of the proceeds of crime in the income tax TDS fraud case. He was arrested by the agency after his name came up following the arrest of Rajesh Batreja, another accused.

Batreja, has been identified as a close associate of the main accused, former I-T official Tanaji Adhikari. They allegedly diverted Rs 55.4 crore of crime proceeds abroad. The ED investigation revealed that Batreja and purushottam Chavan were involved in money laundering and fund diversion. Batreja assisted Adhikari in concealing the proceeds and later facilitated the placement and layering of the funds by establishing firms in Dubai to make the money appear legitimate. Additionally, Batreja invested some of the funds in two Indian companies based in Mumbai and Gurugram under the guise of share investments through cross-border remittance.