In a major action against former Maharashtra Home Minster Anil Deshmukh, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has temporarily attached assets worth Rs 4.20 crore belonging to him, his wife Aarti Deshmukh and company Premier Port Links Private Limited under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The attached property includes a residential flat in Worli, Mumbai, which is worth Rs 1.54 crore. Apart from this, there are 25 pieces of land worth Rs 2.67 crore in the Raigad district of Maharashtra in the name of Premier Port links PVT LTD.
ED is investigating a money laundering case on the basis of FIR registered against Anil Deshmukh and others under Section 120-B of the IPC, 1860 and Section 7 of the PM Act 1988. Deshmukh's troubles have already increased in the matter of recovering Rs 100 crore every month from various bars, restaurants, and other establishments in Mumbai.
Investigations under the PMLA revealed that Deshmukh, while serving as the Home Minister of Maharashtra, had wrongly received a bribe of about Rs 4.70 crore from various orchestra bar owners through Sachin Vajhe, the then Assistant Police Inspector of Mumbai Police.
Apart from this, with the help of Delhi-based dummy companies, the Deshmukh family took 4.18 crores in a trust named Sri Sai Shikshan Sanstha and then transferred it to their companies. The investigation further revealed that the flat located in Worli, Mumbai is registered in the name of Aarti Deshmukh, wife of Anil Deshmukh. The full payment of this flat was made in cash in 2004, although its registry was done in February 2020. During this, Anil Deshmukh was the Home Minister of the state of Maharashtra.
In addition, the Deshmukh family has acquired 50% ownership in M/s Premier Port Links Private Limited. The value of land, shops, etc. in the property of this firm is about Rs 5.34 crore but the Deshmukh family took 50 percent ownership of the company by paying only Rs 17.95 lakh.