Enforcement Directorate files chargesheet in money laundering case, names ex-Maharashtra minister Anil Deshmukh, his sons as accused

Anil Deshmukh was arrested by the ED on November 1 this year in connection with the case and is currently in judicial custody.

Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday filed a supplementary chargesheet against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh in connection with a money laundering case.

The probe agency filed the 7,000-page charge sheet, which also names Deshmukh's sons as accused in the case, before a special court here assigned to hear matters related to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED had earlier filed a charge sheet against 14 accused, including Deshmukh's private secretary (an additional collector-rank officer) Sanjeev Palande and personal assistant Kundan Shinde. Deshmukh was arrested by the ED on November 1 this year in connection with the case and is currently in judicial custody.

The ED had launched a probe against Deshmukh and his associates after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed an FIR against the senior NCP leader on April 21 this year on charges of corruption and misuse of official position.

The ED's case is that while serving as state home minister, Deshmukh allegedly misused his official position and through Sachin Waze, a police officer who has been dismissed from service after his arrest in the ‘Antilia' bomb scare and Mansukh Hiran killing cases, collected Rs 4.70 crore from various bars in Mumbai.

The money was laundered to Nagpur-based Shri Sai Shikshan Sansthan, an educational trust controlled by the Deshmukh family. Both Palande and Shinde had played an important role in circulating and laundering the unaccounted money, according to the anti-money laundering agency.

Deshmukh, who resigned from the post of state home minister earlier this year, has repeatedly denied the charges against him.