Flats and land worth a total of about Rs 410 crore of Mumbai-based realty group Omkar Realtors and that of a company belonging to actor-producer Sachin Joshi have been attached by the Enforcement Directorate under the anti-money laundering law.
Joshi, who has acted in some Telugu and Hindi movies, is the son of JMJ group promoter and businessman J M Joshi who is into gutka and pan masala manufacturing and also into hospitality business. Sachin Joshi has produced some movies too. A provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has been issued to attach “flats worth Rs 330 crore (approximately) in Tower C of sale building namely Omkar 1973, Worli (Mumbai), of Omkar Group and an open land situated at Viram, Pune worth Rs 80 crore (approx.) of a company belonging to Sachin Joshi”, ED said in a statement.
It said probe found that “loan amount Rs 410 crore was fraudulently acquired by Surana Developers Wadala, LLP, a sister concern of Omkar Realtors and Developers Pvt. Ltd (ORDPL) through falsely increased slum dwellers numbers and FSI (floor space index).
“Out of Rs 410 crore, an amount of Rs 330 crore was laundered into the sale building of Omkar Group and an amount of Rs 80 crore (approx.) was laundered through Sachin Joshi and his Viiking Group of companies under the guise of services and investment,” the agency alleged.
The ED had raided these entities in January last year and filed a chargesheet in March naming the chairman of Omkar Relators and Developers, Kamal Kishore Gupta (62), its managing director Babulal Varma (51), and Sachin Joshi (37) and their companies. The three were arrested by the ED last year.
While Joshi was granted a four-month temporary bail by the Supreme Court in September last year, the two others are in judicial custody. The central agency’s case is based on a 2020 FIR of the Aurangabad Police against Gupta and Varma on charges of cheating and diversion of loan funds of Rs 410 crore taken from Yes Bank for the re-development of Anand Nagar Slum Rehabilitation Authority.
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