The agency had arrested Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on August 1 in the case.
The agency had arrested Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on August 1 in the case.
On August 17, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches at several places in Mumbai in connection with the Patra Chawl case. Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut Was arrested earlier this month.
After questioning for nine hours, Mr Raut was arrested on August 1 by the central agency on charges of money laundering and irregularities related to the redevelopment of Patra Chawl in Goregaon, Mumbai. It is alleged by the ED that the developers, one of them a close associate of Mr Raut, fraudulently earned ₹1,039.79 crore from the scheme and Mr Raut also benefited from the scam.
Mr. Raut sent to judicial custody on August 8 by a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court till August 22. He is currently lodged in Arthur Road Jail. The ED had earlier attached Mr Raut’s property and also questioned his wife Varsha Raut in the case.
The case dates back to March 2018 when an FIR was registered against M/s. Based on a complaint filed by Guru Ashish Construction as well as promoters of Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) Rakesh and Sarang Wadhawan, an executive engineer of Maharashtra Housing and Area Development (MHADA).
According to the ED, Guru Ashish Construction was entrusted with the development of Patra Chawl to rehabilitate 672 tenants on 47 acres of land. During the relevant time, the Wadhawan brothers and Pravin Raut were the directors of Guru Ashish Construction.
As per the agreement, the developer was to provide flats to tenants and develop flats for MHADA and thereafter the remaining area was to be sold by the developer. The ED misled MHADA directors of Guru Ashish Construction and managed to sell the floor space index to nine developers and collected around Rs 901.79 crore without constructing the rehab portion for 672 displaced tenants and the MHADA portion.