Mumbai: The Special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has refused to discharge Rashmi Prasad, a close associate of chartered accountant Amber Dalal, citing sufficient evidence.
According to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Dalal is accused of accepting Rs1,146.24 crore from 2015 investors. Out of this, he could return only Rs581.90 crore.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) alleged that Prasad, listed as accused no. 2, received Rs18.81 crore from Dalal and his firm Ritz Consultancy Services, in her personal accounts and in accounts of entities she controlled – M/s Aarya and M/s Garima Fashion – but repaid only Rs3.77 crore. The ED claimed the amount was used to buy property in Dubai and in India and also for personal expenses.
Prasad, however, claimed she has been running a garments business in Mumbai under the name of Aarya and Garima Fashion for 20 years. She claimed she met Dalal in Mussoorie when she had gone to check a property. She claimed Dalal showed her a scheme to get Rs39 lakh per month.
Prasad alleged she sold two flats, one in Oshiwara and inAndheri West and secured a loan of Rs1.95 crore to invest in Dalal’s scheme. However, she claimed Dalal reduced the amount from Rs39 lakh to Rs13.50 lakh per month. Prasad claimed to be a victim of Dalal’s scheme and now in debt.
ED prosecutor Arvind A Aghav objected to Prasad’s claim and contended that she resided in the same building as Dalal. It is alleged that she is still in possession of the proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs15 crore.
The ED claimed Dalal signed MoUs with investors and gave them undated cheques of amount equal to the investment. However, no MoU appears to have been signed between Dalal and Prasad to prove she was an investor.
The court rejected the argument that Prasad was only an investor and noted that a huge amount was transferred from Ritz Consultancy and Dalal to Prasad and she has purchased the property in Dubai.
