Resort land, building proceeds of crime: PMLA court

MUMBAI: Special PMLA judge M G Deshpande said former minister Anil Parab (Sena-UBT) had invested his unaccounted for money in cash and built a resort in Dapoli (Ratnagiri) in violation of CRZ-III rules, damaging the environment and ecology of the sea shore.
Pegging the proceeds of crime at over Rs 10 crore—around Rs 2.8 crore for the land and Rs 7.5 crore for the resort, the special judge said there is prima facie material to indicate Sadanand Kadam helped Parab suppress the land sale value by utilising unaccounted for cash of Rs 80 lakh in buying the plot from Vibhas Sathe.
The allegations further indicate payments for construction of the resort were deliberately made in cash before the registration of land in Parab’s name. All this was done to utilise the black money and shield the identity of the owner so that blame for future violations could be shifted to erstwhile owner Sathe, the court held. “Funds for construction were paid in cash by Parab with the help of Kadam on the basis of MoU… Kadam was to obtain various permissions on Parab’s behalf for converting the land from agricultural to non-agricultural and constructing the resort. It was done on the basis of illegal permission granted by then SDO Deshpande,” said the special judge about Kadam possibly acting as a front for Parab.
In the seven-page order, the judge pointed out the I-T department had provisionally attached Sai Resort, stating Parab as the beneficial owner and Kadam as his benamidar. “The chargesheet further indicates when the irregularity in the construction of the resort came to light, Kadam was shown belatedly paying nearly Rs 3.6 crore to own up the expenses paid in cash by Parab. In this way, Anil Parab with the help of Kadam and illegal construction permission granted by Jayram Deshpande, then SDO, Dapoli, constructed Sai Resort NX… Hence, the land and the building standing on it are proceeds of crime, as per… PMLA,” said the judge.
The order noted Kadam introduced Parab to Sathe. “Out of Rs 1.8 crore, Rs 80 lakh was paid in cash to suppress the value of land,” said the order said quoting the chargesheet. Parab took possession on May 2, 2017, and immediately started construction. In July, Parab applied with Sathe’s forged signature for land use conversion. Mutation did not happen till 2019.
The judge took cognisance of the chargesheet on Tuesday and the detailed order came out on Friday. Kadam and Deshpande’s bail pleas will come up for hearing on May 17.