A BMW car worth Rs 74 lakh was seized by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday in connection with a money laundering case brought against Abhay Kant Pathak, a former Indian Forest Service officer, in Cuttack, Odisha, according to officials. According to the investigating agency, it came to light during the investigation that Akash Kumar Pathak, the son of Abhay Kant Pathak, had secretly tried to sell the BMW car to a resident of Belagaavi, Karnataka, who worked as an old-car dealer in Mumbai.
Abhay Kant Pathak, an Odisha cadre member from the 1987 batch, was the Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Plan, Programme, and Afforestation during the pertinent period, and the officials conducted a search in his case.
On the basis of the FIR filed by the Vigilance Cell Police Station, Cuttack for disproportionate assets (DA) totaling Rs 9.35 crore by Abhay Kant Pathak and his family, ED had started an investigation under the PMLA.
It was also disclosed that Akash Kumar Pathak and Abhay Kant Pathak were subjects of seven additional FIRs and chargesheets filed by the Odisha Police. The two defendants are accused of defrauding gullible individuals under the pretence of offering them jobs at Tata Motors.
ED had previously conducted a search operation under the PMLA on December 3, 2021 at the Bhubaneswar residence of Abhay Kant Pathak, which led to the seizure of a Tata Harrier car valued at Rs 15 lakh as well as several incriminating documents and evidence.
The ED then issued an attachment order against Abhay Kant Pathak and others, attaching certain properties belonging to them worth Rs 29.83 lakh.
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