Sources said the Income Tax (IT) department is conducting searches at the premises of directors of several sugar mills in Maharashtra, including Jarandeshwar Sugar Mill, Pushpadanteshwar Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Ltd, Daund Sugar Pvt Ltd and Ambalika Sugar Pvt Ltd. Some of these mills are managed by people close to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
Some of them are already under the investigation of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case involving fraud of Rs 25,000 crore in Maharashtra State Cooperative (MSC) Bank.
For example, in July, the ED temporarily attached land, machinery and buildings worth Rs 65.75 crore of the Jarandeshwar Cooperative Sugar Factory (Jarandeshwar SSK) in Satara, Maharashtra under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering, 2002 (PMLA). . For alleged fraud in MSC Bank.
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In September 2019, a month before the assembly elections in Maharashtra, the ED registered a money laundering case against NCP chief Sharad Pawar and his nephew, Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar in connection with an alleged Rs 25000 crore scam in MSC Bank. did. .
The ED probe has found that MSCB had sold Jarandeshwar SSK in 2010 through auction at a price below fair value and without following any rules. At that time Ajit Pawar was on the board of the bank. The ED said that Jarandeshwar SSK was bought by Guru Commodity Services Pvt Ltd and was immediately leased to Jarandeshwar Sugar Mills Pvt Ltd, where Sparkling Soil Pvt Ltd, a company linked to Ajit Pawar and his wife Sunetra Ajit Pawar, majority is a shareholder.
The matter relating to the alleged fraud in MSC Bank has arisen out of a criminal PIL filed before the Bombay High Court on January 28, 2019. The PIL alleged that loans were given fraudulently by MSC Bank to the then top officials of MSC Bank i.e. Chairman, MDs, Directors, CEOs, managerial staff and office bearers and directors of Sakhar factories, yarn girnis and other processing units. In the process, several illegalities were committed.
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