ED attaches properties of Goa Cricket Association's former office bearers

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate has attached properties worth over Rs 4 crore of former office bearers of

Goa Cricket Association

on Monday for allegedly laundering funds received by the state cricket association from the

Board of Control for Cricket

in India during 2006-07 towards grants and TV rights.

The ED attached the properties worth Rs 4.13 crores of Dayanand Narvekar, Chetan Desai,

Vinod Phadke

and Akbar Mulla, all former office bearers of the Goa Cricket Association, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The state police had earlier registered an FIR against all the accused for allegedly siphoning off of funds received from BCCI during 2006-07 towards grants/TV Subsidy amounting to Rs 6.95 crore.

“Out of the total grants, an amount of Rs 3.87 crore was siphoned off by Dayanand Narvekar, Chetan Desai, Vinod Phadke and Akbar Mulla, by fraudulently opening accounts with Development Credit Bank, Panaji and Shiroda Urban Cooperative Society, IDC Kundaim branch, Ponda,” the ED has said in a statement.

The modus operandi adopted by the accused was to open fraudulent accounts in the name of GCA with certain banks based in Goa. Thereafter, a portion of the grants/TV subsidy received from BCCI would be deposited in the said accounts. Existence of these grants and the new bank accounts was neither disclosed in the monthly meeting/annual general body meeting nor mentioned in the balance sheet of GCA, a senior ED official said.

“The money deposited in these accounts would then be withdrawn in cash using bearer cheques in name of fictitious persons. The office bearers used to telephonically inform the bank officials concerened that their person is coming to withdraw money and they should clear the cheque at the earliest,” the official said.

Dayanand Narvekar had also allegedly siphoned off Rs 26 lakh from the Federal Bank account of the GCA by placing fictitious orders for sports equipment. This amount was also withdrawn in cash.

During its probe, the ED officials found that Hako Enterprises in Mumbai, with which the GCA officials had placed orders for the supply of sports equipment such as lawn mowers, bowling machines, cricket pitch cover and ground rollers, never supplied any equipment nor such payment was made by GCA to them.

The ED investigation found that the accused had laundered at least Rs 4.13 crore. The agency has attached an apartment at Caranzalem belonging to Dayanand Narvekar, three shops at

Vasco City

belonging to Chetan Desai, a plot at village Reis Magos belonging to Vinod Phadke and two plots, at village Shiroda and a fixed deposit of Rs 67,500 with Central Bank of India, Ponda Branch belonging to Akbar Mulla. Further investigation is in progress, the ED said.