Probe Agency Attaches Resort In Money Laundering Case Against Sena Leader

A beach resort and its land in Ratnagiri worth more than Rs 10 crore have been attached as part of a money laundering probe against Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former Maharashtra minister Anil Parab and others in a case linked to alleged irregularities of coastal regulation laws, the ED said today.

"The attached properties are in the form of land measuring about 42 guntas located at Gut No.446, Murud in Dapoli, Ratnagiri district, valued at Rs 2,73,91,000 and the resort named Sai Resort NX constructed over the said land valued at Rs 7,46,47,000", the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said in a statement.

The total value of the attached properties is Rs 10.20 crore, it said.

Parab, 58, is a Shiv Sena leader from the Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) faction of the party. He has earlier denied his association with this resort.

He is a three-time Shiv Sena legislator in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, the Upper House of the legislature, and has held transport and parliamentary affairs portfolios.

The politician was questioned by the federal agency in this case earlier.

The money laundering case stems from a complaint filed by the Union environment and forest ministry against Anil Dattatray Parab, Sai Resort, Sea Conch Resort and some others for alleged violation of the Environment (Protection) Act apart from a linked state police FIR against the former minister and others for "deceiving and causing loss to the state government of Maharashtra".

According to ED, probe found that Parab "in connivance" with Sadanand Kadam, a Mumbai-based cable operator allegedly linked to Parab, got "illegal permission" from local sub-divisional office for conversion of use of land from agricultural to non-agricultural purpose and constructed a resort in violation of CRZ (coastal regulation zone) norms in Dapoli.

Dapoli, about 230 kms from state capital Mumbai, is a scenic coastal hill station and is called Maharashtra's 'mini Mahabaleshwar' because of its round-the-year cool weather and salubrious surroundings. A number of real estate projects comprising villas, row houses and flats are coming up in the area.

Parab obtained "illegal" permission from the state revenue department for construction of a twin bungalow (ground 1 floor) over a piece of land falling under CRZ-III i.e. no development zone and after acquiring permission he illegally constructed "Sai Resort NX" having ground 2 floors, the ED alleged.

It claimed Parab, with the deliberate intention to "hide" his identity as owner of the said asset, obtained permission in the name of the earlier owner, Vibhas Sathe, from the revenue department by "forging" his signature on the application made in this regard.

"Anil Parab also deliberately hid the fact that the said land falls within CRZ-III, from the gram panchayat and pressured it to transfer the said land along with building in his name although there was no mention of any construction in the original sale deed.

"He also cheated the gram panchayat by making an application for taxation purposes before the completion of the entire construction of the building/resort," the ED alleged.

The payment for construction of the resort was "deliberately made in cash" and construction commenced before the registration of land in the name of Anil Parab (even though payments were made and land was in his physical possession) in order to hide the identity of real owner of the building, so that in future the expenses made for the building construction and any violation comes to fore, the onus could be shifted to Vibhas Sathe (the previous land owner), the ED said.

It said when complaints regarding the "illegal" construction of Sai Resort NX came to light, Parab sold the said land on paper to Sadanand Kadam to "conceal" the illegalities and irregularities.

The Income Tax Department had raided some people allegedly close to Parab, including Kadam and deputy regional transport officer Bajrang Kharmate in March last year as part of this probe.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)