Chargesheets filed against leaders from Maharashtra in MSC Bank scam case

In a money-laundering investigation connected to the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) corruption case, the central investigation agency ED filed two supplemental chargesheets against former state ministers affiliated with the Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena, as well as other people and businesses.

NCP legislator and former state minister Prajakt Tanpure, his father Prasad Tanpure, former Congress state chief Ranjeet Deshmukh, Subhash Deshmukh, two companies—Prasad Sugar and Allied Agro Products—as well as Takshashila Securities Limited are all named in the first supplementary chargesheet, which was filed on August 24.

Arjunrao Khotkar, the leader of the Shivsena, Sameer Padmakar Mule, Jugalkishor Tapadia, Arjun Sugar Industries, and Tapadia Construction Private Limited are named in the second supplementary charge sheet, which was filed on August 25 in relation to the Jalna Sahkari Sakhar Karkhana sugar mill.

The ED also filed a chargesheet earlier in March 2023 in relation to the Jarandeshwar Sugar Mill in the Satara region of Maharashtra against two businesses and one individual. Ajit Pawar, the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, was linked to the companies and sugar mills involved in the case, according to the ED investigations, but he was not named in the charge sheet.

In February 2022, the ED attached assets under the money laundering act, including two parcels of non-agricultural land measuring nearly 4.6 acres each belonging to Prajakt Tanpure and 90 acres of land belonging to the former Ram Ganesh Gadkari Sahkari Sakhar Karkhana (SSK), held in the name of Takshshila Securities Private Limited.

Although no one has been detained in this case, a chargesheet has been filed as a result of the agency’s investigation and attachment.

In order to further investigate the case, the ED attached assets belonging to Jalna SSK Limited worth Rs. 78.38 crore, which included leftover plant and machinery, a building, and more than 200 acres of land in Jalna, Maharashtra. These assets were connected to the case’s illegal sale of cooperative sugar mills (Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana).