In connection with a bank fraud case involving Karnala Nagari Sahakari Bank Ltd, Panvel, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached immovable properties worth Rs 152 crore that belonged to three-time Maharashtra MLA Vivekanand Patil and his relatives.
Patil was the former chairman of Karnala Nagari Sahakari Bank Ltd. in Panvel and is a member of the Shetkari Kamgar Paksha Party.
Based on a FIR that the Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police had filed in 2019, the ED opened an inquiry.
It was found that Patil was allegedly siphoning off money from the bank through 67 fictitious loan accounts to the loan accounts of entities owned or controlled by him, including the Karnala Charitable Trust, Karnala Sports Academy, Karnala Mahila Readymade Garments Cooperative Society Limited, and other entities after an audit was conducted at the request of the Reserve Bank in 2019–20.
Further investigation by the ED found that 67 bogus loan accounts totaled about Rs 560 crore in fraudulent funds.
The investigation agency claimed that the available cash were transferred to these bogus accounts and from these accounts to a number of bank accounts of businesses Patil founded or controlled in order to conceal the siphoning.
By exploiting the earnings of crime and portraying them as clean, organizations like Karnala Charitable Trust and Karnala Sports Academy used these cash to build buildings like sports complexes, colleges, and schools as well as for other personal purposes.
The ED detained Patil on June 15, 2021, and he is still in judicial detention. On August 12, 2021, a complaint was made against him and the bank for the crime of money laundering.
A provisional attachment order dated August 17, 2021 was also previously issued, attaching immovable properties worth Rs 234 crore owned by Patil, his family, and his associated businesses. A total of 386 crore rupees worth of assets have so far been attached.
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