In the Rs 1,034 crore land scam case, the ED searches Sanjay Raut's daughters' associate residence

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is investigating the Rs 1034 crore Patra Chawl land scam in which Pravin Raut was arrested on Wednesday, searched the home of one of his associates, who is also an Additional Director of a wine distribution company, as well as the daughters of Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut.

 

Sujit Patkar has been named as Pravin's associate. According to corporate records, Patkar and Sanjay Raut's daughters, Purvashi and Vidhita, have been partners in a wine distribution firm called Magpie DFS Pvt Ltd since April 16 last year. Patkar's apartment in Mumbai was searched by the ED. Pravin Raut of Guruashish Constructions, a subsidiary firm of HDIL Constructions, is Patkar's business partner.

 

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had earlier on Wednesday arrested businessman Pravin Raut under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with its investigation into the alleged fraudulent sale of a plot in suburban Mumbai by Guruashish Construction Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL), officials said.

 

Multiple investigating agencies have been looking into HDIL concerning the Rs 4,300 crore scam at Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank. He was brought before a special PMLA court on Wednesday. Advocate Ajay Bhise, Raut's lawyer, argued that the alleged financial irregularities were mistakenly estimated at Rs 1,034 crore. Bhise asked the court for ED custody of his client for a brief period of time. S B Gurav, a special PMLA judge, remanded Raut to the ED's custody until February 9 after hearing both sides.

 

 

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